Civil Rules, Practice Notes and Forms – Appeals

An appeal is a review of a decision of a lower court or an administrative tribunal. While many may expect that all appeals are heard by the Court of Appeal, this is not the case. The General Division of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador has the jurisdiction to hear appeals in many circumstances. This may include appeals from the Provincial Court in family and small claims matters, or appeals of decisions from certain administrative tribunals like the Residential Tenancies Board. It is also common for the Supreme Court to hear appeals of decisions from many professional disciplinary bodies.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the appeal procedures of the Supreme Court are outlined in Rule 58 of the Rules of the Supreme Court, 1986, SN 1986. This Process Overview describes common steps litigants may face when proceeding through a simple appeal at the Supreme Court where leave to appeal is not required.

The Civil Law Handbook for Self-Represented Persons, prepared by the Canadian Judicial Council, also provides information on the civil appeal process, starting at page 80. The Court highly recommends consulting this reference, as well, if you are self-represented.

Process at a Glance

The diagram below highlights the process commonly followed in a civil appeal (where no leave to appeal is required). Note that your case may proceed differently or have different steps, depending on the circumstances. Further details and explanation are provided under the diagram.

Starting an Appeal

Simply put, an appeal will be heard in the Supreme Court when the relevant legislation states that appeal is to be heard in that Court. Certain appeals sometimes require leave, or permission, from the Court before they can be heard. These include appeals of decisions where the overall matter has yet to be completed, appeals of decisions that were made by consent, appeals only on the issue of costs, and appeals where a statute specifically states that leave of the Court must first be obtained.

Where no leave to appeal is necessary, an Appellant can initiate an appeal by filing a Notice of Appeal, the form for which can be downloaded at the bottom of this page. Unless the statute under which the appeal is made specifies a different time limit, the Notice of Appeal must be filed with the Registrar within 30 days of the filing date of the order or date that the decision was made, if no formal order was filed.

The Rules state the requirements for the Notice of Appeal. It must specify:

• The decision and Decision-Making Authority appealed from, the date the decision was filed or made, the file number on the decision, and the neutral citation (if one exists);
• The portion of the decision under appeal, if only a portion is being appealed;
• The grounds of appeal;
• The relief, disposition, or order requested;
• The name, postal address, email address, and telephone number of the Appellant;
• If known, the names, postal address, email address, and telephone number of the persons being served with the Notice of Appeal;
• Whether a publication ban is in effect;
• If the Appellant is requesting the appeal be expedited, it must state the reason for the request; and,
• If applicable, state that the appeal involves the custody of, access to, protection of, support for, or responsibility for a child.

Within 10 days of filing the Notice of Appeal, the Appellant must serve the Notice of Appeal on the Respondent(s) (the opposite party at the time of the initial decision) and the Decision-Making Authority who made the initial decision. The Decision-Making Authority is not a party in the same way the Respondent is, but the Rules state that they may participate in the appeal to help explain to the Court their own function and processes.

Respondent May Cross-Appeal

After they have been served with the Notice of Appeal, the Respondent has 30 days to file and serve a Notice of Cross-Appeal on each party to the appeal. The Respondent files the Notice of Cross-Appeal when they wish to argue that:

• The decision appealed from should be varied;
• The decision appealed from should be affirmed on grounds other than those given by the Decision-Making Authority; or
• The Respondent is entitled to a different disposition or different relief than that given in the decision appealed from.

Decision-Making Authority’s Obligation

After they have been served with the Notice of Appeal, the Decision-Making Authority must, within 30 days, file a copy of the Record of the Proceedings (the “Record”) heard before them with the Court, and serve a copy of the Record on each party to the appeal. The Record contains the information that will be used in the appeal, such as:

• The decision itself if written, or a summary of it if not;
• The reasons for the decision if they were recorded;
• Any exhibits filed with the Decision-Making Authority;
• Copies of official sound recordings of the evidence, if any; and
• Any other relevant documents.

Appellant’s Obligation to Obtain Transcript

Should the Decision-Making Authority have delivered a sound-recording to the Appellant as part of its disclosure of the Record, the Appellant has 10 days from the date they receive the recording to arrange for the preparation of a transcript of the portion of the recording necessary to determine the issues in appeal. The Appellant must also indicate to the other parties which portion of the sound recording they are having transcribed.

The Appellant’s deadline for filing the transcript with the Court is 60 days from the date they received the sound recording from the Decision-Making Authority. This means that, if the Appellant took 10 days to arrange for the preparation of the transcript, the transcript itself must be filed 50 days later. The Appellant is required to file two (2) copies of the transcript with the Court, and serve both a printed and electronic copy on each other party to the appeal.

Respondent Transcript

If, when the Appellant informs the Respondent of the portion of the sound recording they intend to have transcribed, the Respondent is not satisfied that this portion is sufficient, the Respondent can arrange for the transcription of an additional portion of the recording. The law states that the Respondent must do this as soon as practicable, and they must inform each party in writing of what arrangements they have made, in addition to the portion of the recording they are having transcribed.

The due date for the Respondent’s filing their additional portions of the transcript, should they wish to do is, is 10 days after they have received the Appellant’s transcript. They must file two copies with the Court, and serve both a printed and electronic copy on each other party to the appeal.

Appeal Brief

The Appellant is obligated to file an Appeal Brief with the Court. This document briefly sets out the procedural history of the appeal, any material facts, and the authorities and written argument a party wishes to rely on in their appeal. The deadline for the filing the Appeal Brief depends on whether or not a transcript is being arranged. If there is to be no transcript, then the Appellant must file two (2) copies of their Appeal Brief within 30 days after the Decision-Making Authority has served the Record on the Appellant. If a transcript is required, then the Appellant must file two (2) copies of their Appeal Brief within 30 days after the transcript is filed. The Appellant must also ensure that the Appeal Brief is served on the other parties within the required timeline.

After the Respondent has been served with the Appellant’s Appeal Brief, they have 30 days to file two (2) copies of their own Brief and serve a copy on each party. Where the Respondent has made a cross-appeal, the submissions on the cross-appeal must be included in the Respondent’s Brief, placed after the submissions in response to the Appellant’s appeal or in a separate volume. Where the Respondent’s Brief includes submissions on cross-appeal, the Appellant may file two (2) copies of a Reply Brief and serve a copy on each party within 30 days after receiving the Respondent’s Brief.

A Brief must be in Form 58.11A, which is downloadable at the bottom of this page. The Brief must be bound and include, in separate tabs:

• An index;
• Part 1—a concise statement of facts;
• Part 2—a list of the issues;
• Part 3—the party’s arguments, including any specific points of law, which are not to exceed 20 pages unless a judge has permitted otherwise;
• Part 4—the order or relief the party is requesting;
• Appendix A—copies of cases referred to; and,
• Appendix B—copies of the legislative provisions referred to.

Setting a Date

After they have filed their brief, either party may request a time for the hearing of the appeal at a Case Management Meeting. A request for a Case Management Meeting may be made by filing a request in Form 58.13A, which form can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

Where all parties have filed their Appeal Briefs, they may submit a joint request to set a date for the hearing of the appeal. This is done by filing a request in Form 58.14A, which form can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

The hearing date will be set at the Case Management Meeting or, where the request was made jointly, by the Registry.

Appeal and Decision

A Judge of the Court will then hear the appeal at the set date, and render their decision.

A complete list of the Statutes of Newfoundland and Labrador may be found on the House of Assembly’s website. A number of these statutes set out rights of appeal to the Supreme Court. Some statutes that are often cited in appeals to the Supreme Court include:

Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015

Children’s Law Act

Family Law Act

Residential Tenancies Act, 2018

Small Claims Act

Urban and Rural Planning Act, 2000

Rule 58 of the Rules of Supreme Court, 1986 governs the procedure on appeals before the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. You may also have to consult other rules in the Rules of the Supreme Court, 1986, if a matter arises that is not dealt with in Rule 58.

The Court issues practices notes, which may affect how the rules are interpreted or applied. The official versions of the Practice Notes, issued pursuant to Rule 4.04 of the Rules of the Supreme Court, 1986, are published in the Newfoundland and Labrador Gazette. The following Practice Notes apply to civil appeals in the Supreme Court:

[There are currently no practice notes applicable to appeals.]

Other Practice Notes, applicable to civil proceedings generally, may also apply to your matter. There is a complete list of these here.

The Rules of the Supreme Court, 1986, include a number of forms that must be used. Rule 4.01(1) provides that the forms appended to the rules shall be used where applicable with such variations as the circumstances of the particular proceeding require. The official versions of the forms are found on the House of Assembly’s website. Below, you will find fillable versions of forms that are often used in civil appeal proceedings for your convenience. Depending on the nature of your matter, you may have to use other forms applicable to civil proceedings generally. Those forms may be found here.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

*All original signatures must be in BLUE INK.

*All documents must be single-sided.

*To ensure your web browser is loading the most recent version of forms on this website, please refresh your browser by hitting the Shift + F5 keys after opening a form.

Form 58.04A – Notice of Appeal	PDF Version
Form 58.04A – Notice of Appeal (from Registrar of Motor Vehicles)	PDF Version
Form 58.07A – Notice of Cross-Appeal	PDF Version
Form 58.07B – Notice of Election to Proceed with Cross-Appeal	PDF Version
Form 58.09A – Record	PDF Version
Form 58.11A – Appellant’s/Respondent’s Brief	PDF Version
Form 58.13A – Request for Case Management Meeting	PDF Version
Form 58.14A – Joint Request for Appeal Hearing Date	PDF Version
Application for an Extension of Time	PDF Version
Affidavit of Service	PDF Version