legal procedure Procedural law, adjective law, in some jurisdictions referred to as remedial law, or rules of court, comprises the rules by which a court hears and determines what happens in civil, lawsuit, criminal or administrative proceedings. The rules are ...

, a leapfrog appeal is a special and relatively rare form of

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

in which a case is appealed directly from a lower court to a higher court, skipping an intermediate appellate court. For example, in

England & Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Engli ...

, an appeal from the High Court to the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, thereby skipping the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

England & Wales

A leapfrog appeal may be brought from the High Court to the

(or previously the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

), thereby skipping the

. The procedure is governed by Part II of the Administration of Justice Act 1969 as amended. In summary, if the High Court judge considers that the relevant conditions are met, and that the case is suitable for a leapfrog appeal, then they may grant a certificate to that effect (section 12(1) of the Act). If a certificate is granted, any of the parties to the proceedings may apply to the Supreme Court for leave to make a leapfrog appeal, which if granted enables the leapfrog appeal to take place (section 13). The High Court judge may not grant a certificate unless the "relevant conditions" in section 12(3), or the "alternative conditions" in section 12(3A) are met. The "relevant conditions in section 12(3) are that: The "alternative conditions" in section 12(3A) are that: Key contemporary examples include the leapfrog appeals in the ''Miller'' case, and the ''Cherry'' and ''Miller'' joint cases, both major judicial review appeals heard by the Supreme Court

en banc In law, an ''en banc'' (; alternatively ''in banc'', ''in banco'' or ''in bank''; ) session is when all the judges of a court sit to hear a case, not just one judge or a smaller panel of judges. For courts like the United States Courts of Appeal ...

Hong Kong

Under the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance, certain

civil Civil may refer to: *Civility, orderly behavior and politeness *Civic virtue, the cultivation of habits important for the success of a society *Civil (journalism) ''The Colorado Sun'' is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It lau ...

appeals from the

Court of First Instance A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...

may be made directly to the Court of Final Appeal, skipping the

Ireland

Article 35.5.4 of the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland (, ) is the constitution, fundamental law of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. It guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected non-executi ...

provides for a leapfrog appeal from the High Court to the

, thereby skipping the

. Under Article 35.5.4, a leapfrog appeal may be brought if the Supreme Court is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances warranting a direct appeal to it, and either the decision of the High Court involves a matter of general public importance, or the interests of justice require.

United States

The US equivalent of a leapfrog appeal is

certiorari before judgment A petition for certiorari before judgment, in the Supreme Court of the United States, is a petition for a writ of certiorari in which the Supreme Court is asked to immediately review the decision of a United States District Court, without an appeal ...

, a procedure under which the

is asked to immediately review the decision of a

district court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

without an appeal having been decided by a

court of appeals An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...

, for the purpose of expediting the proceedings and obtaining a final decision.

References

English law {{Improve categories, date=September 2023