Means of Review

Abstract

This chapter examines appeals and other types of recourse, including extraordinary motion for review. The ability to appeal from or otherwise challenge judgments is a well-established feature amongst procedural systems, albeit it is, in principle, not recognised by the European Court of Human Rights as falling within the ambit of the right to fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The present European Rules of Civil Procedure adopt the approach that there is a right to appeal, albeit one that may only be exercised with the permission of the appellate court according to special provisions with respect to access and scope. In this way the appellate process, and the right to appeal, provides an effective balance between the principles of finality in litigation, accuracy in decision-making, expedition, and proportionality. Principle 27 of the ALI/UNIDROIT Principles addresses the necessity of keeping the right balance between diverging aspects of the rule of law as follows: ‘(2) The scope of appellate review should ordinarily be limited to claims and defenses addressed in first-instance proceeding. (3) The appellate court may in the interest of justice consider new facts and evidence’.