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Section 56: Power to prescribe alternative destination of appeals.

Access to Justice Act 1999 · 1999 c. 22View on legislation.gov.uk

Part IV: Appeals, courts, judges and court proceedings

The Lord Chancellor may by order provide that appeals which would otherwise lie to—

the county court,
the family court,
the High Court, or
the Court of Appeal,

shall lie instead to another of those courts, as specified in the order.

This section does not apply to an appeal in a criminal cause or matter.

An order under subsection (1)—

may make different provision for different classes of proceedings or appeals, and
may contain consequential amendments or repeals of enactments.

Before making an order under subsection (1) the Lord Chancellor shall consult—

the Lord Chief Justice,
the Master of the Rolls,
the President of the Queen's Bench Division,
the President of the Family Division, and
the Chancellor of the High Court.

An order under subsection (1) shall be made by statutory instrument.

No such order may be made unless a draft of it has been laid before and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.

For the purposes of this section an application to have a case stated for the opinion of the High Court constitutes an appeal.

The Lord Chief Justice may nominate a judicial office holder (as defined in section 109(4) of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005) to exercise his functions under this section.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.