Appeals

AuthorJulien D. Payne; Marilyn A. Payne
Pages599-609
599
CHAPTER 15
APPEALS
A. DEFINITION OF “APPELLATE COURT”
Section () of the Divorce Act provides that “appellate court,” in respect of an appeal from
a court, means the cour t exercising appellate jurisdict ion with respect to that appeal. i s
def‌inition is relevant to the operation of sections  and () of the Act. An exami nation of
the aforementioned prov isions indic ates that the determination of t he appropriate appel-
late court and the procedure applicable on appeals has been delegated to the provinces.
Although section  of the Co nstituti on Act,  bind s both the Parliament of Canada and
the provincial legislat ures and precludes a ny appellate jurisdiction i n divorce proceed ings
being exercised by tribunal s other than those presided over by federally appointed judges,
some f‌lexibility exis ts for the provinces to select the appropriate appellate court in exercis-
ing their legislative jurisdiction over the administration of just ice. e composition of the
appellate court could also va ry according to whether the appeal is in respect of an interim
order or a permanent order for corollar y relief.
B. GENER AL OBSERVATIONS
Section () of the Divorce Act confers a general right to appeal from any judgment or order,
whether f‌inal or interim, made pursuant to the Act. Sections (), (), and (), however,
impose restrictions on the rig ht of appeal, which vary according to whether the appeal
relates to the judgment qua marital status or to interim or f‌inal corollary orders. A non-
party is not entitled to appea l.
As to the provinci al power of a trial judge to reser ve or refer matters to an appellate cour t, see Arnold v
Arnold (–),  NSR  (CA); Iantsis v Papatheodorou (),  RFL  (Ont CA).

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