Appellant delaying appeal process by not lodging papers

Urn

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HI, look for more advice please if possible. Have looked on line and can't find anywhere what the time frame is between lodging an appeal and lodging the supporting documentation pleading booklets from the original hearing. My ex has lodged an appeal to the High Court on Circuit. I spoke with High Court and the case can't go onto a list until he submits the pleadings booklet. At the moment he is treating the appeal as a stay on the order even though a stay has not been granted so will delay as long as he can. How long is he allowed do this for?

Does he not have to submit the booklet 10 days after lodging the appeal or i think I something about 4 days. Would be grateful for any info on this.

Thanks
 
At a guess this appears to be a civil matter and it sounds like family law ! If the latter, I know little about it !!

Generally, serving a notice of appeal has the practical effect of staying a Circuit Court order(s) unless there is any specific provision that a particular order or element of an order is not stayed pending the hearing of an appeal.

An appellant cannot delay forever. Sometimes, delay is used as a deliberate ploy. The way to deal with that is to set deadlines for the appellant. You or your solicitor can demand of the appellant - through his solicitor - that the relevant documents are lodged within a certain time frame e.g. within three weeks of the date of this letter. This demand should be accompanied by a warning that if the matter is not dealt with promptly you will apply to the High Court to have the appeal struck out for want of prosecution and then do that if there is no response. BTW if the appellant is a litigant in person the principles are the same but they might get more leniency in terms of time.

Courts may grant reasonable extensions of time to comply with such requests or orders but a time will come when continued delay will not be tolerated and a matter may well be struck out for failure to prosecute. Paradoxically, this type of situation is one where the other party must be seen not to be acquiescing in the appellant's tardiness.

BTW if the other party is "slippery" make sure that the warning letter is sent by registered post !.
 
Thanks Direct Devil
At the hearing in December there was no stay put on the order so does that not mean that the order is in place until the appeal date?
 
Thanks Direct Devil
At the hearing in December there was no stay put on the order so does that not mean that the order is in place until the appeal date?

I think probably not.

Generally, the effect of serving a Notice of Appeal is to put an effective stay on the original order. In this case the Circuit Court order(s) are probably not going to be enforceable whilst there is a High Court appeal pending. That is why I wondered if there had been any specific order that any element of the Circuit Court orders would not be stayed pending the hearing of any appeal. On the basis of what you say it is likely that the Circuit Court orders(s) stand in abeyance pending appeal. That said, it would be worth taking up a copy of the Circuit Court orders to clarify this.

This is why it can become necessary to get very firm with an opponent who serves Notice of Appeal and then deliberately sits on it to cause delay for whatever reason they might have.
 
Thanks again Direct Devil
The only order we were in court for was maintenance. the motion he brought to vary it was denied and the arrears owing were to be paid in full over three months. There was no stay put on the order.
 
Thanks again Direct Devil
The only order we were in court for was maintenance. the motion he brought to vary it was denied and the arrears owing were to be paid in full over three months. There was no stay put on the order.

This actually makes things a lot clearer.

On this basis, you seem to have an enforceable order in place which he failed to get the court to alter. Therefore, all he is appealing is his own failure to get a variation and any delay is to his disadvantage. So, as matters stand, your entitlements should be satisfied and you should be entitled to press for compliance. It would be for him to show proper cause for any purported delay in making payments.
 
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