Appeals

Appealing a District Court Decision

If you do not agree with all or part of the judge's decision (judgment), you can make an application to a higher court, known as an appeal.

Before deciding to make an appeal, you should consider whether you have valid reasons to make an appeal. Appealing a court decision may result in you having to pay costs, for example legal costs.

As a claimant or a respondent, you have fourteen days to appeal a District Court decision to the Circuit Court. There is a fee associated with this (see below).

To appeal a District Court decision, you must submit the following documents in the court office where the decision you are appealing was made:

• A Notice of Appeal (Form 101.1). This must be signed by the party appealing the decision (known as the appellant) or their solicitor. The notice must be served on the other party in the case, and submitted in the court office. The appellant or their solicitor must do this within fourteen days of the judge's decision being made. Service must be completed before the notice can be submitted in the court office. 
  
• A Statutory Declaration of Service (Form 41.01 - Registered Post,  Form 41.02 - Ordinary Post,  Form 41.03 - Personal Service). In this form, you must include the time, date, method, and place of service on the other party in the case. The declaration must be signed before a practicing solicitor (but not your own solicitor), a notary public, a peace commissioner, or a commissioner for oaths.

For more information on serving and proof of service, please see our serving and proof of service page.

After you complete the above steps, the matter will be listed before the Circuit Court. If you are not legally represented you will be notified of the date of the appeal hearing by the court office where the appeal was submitted.

Alternatively, the appeals list will be published on the legal diary section of courts.ie. The appeal court's decision will be issued to both parties when finalised.

Note: Submitting a Notice of Appeal does not stop a District Court order from taking effect. If you wish to stop a District Court order from taking effect, you should make a separate application by submitting a Notice of Motion (Form 44.01) along with any supporting Affidavit (template form that can be used) in the court office where the decision was made. This is known as a "stay" on a court order.

Extension of Time to Appeal

You have fourteen days to make an appeal. If you are outside of this timeframe, you can apply for an extension of time in which to appeal a District Court civil decision. You can do this by making an application to the relevant District Court or Circuit Court. 

To do this, you must submit a Notice of Motion (template form that can be used) in the relevant court office, and serve a copy of it on the other party.

If an order extending the time to appeal is granted by the court, you must serve a copy of this order and a copy of the Notice of Appeal (Form 101.1) on the other party. You must then submit proof of service and the original Notice of Appeal in the court office where the decision you are appealing was made. 

District Court Fees

Original documents must be stamped with a court fee. You can pay the court fees at your local court office (or in Dublin, at the Stamping Office in the Áras Uí Dhálaigh building in the Four Courts complex). You can pay these fees by card or cash.

• Notice of Appeal: €25.
• Notice of Motion to put a stay on a court order: €15.
• Notice of Motion for extension of time to appeal, submitted in the Circuit Court: €60.
• Grounding Affidavit: €15.