Appeals

• Author: Julien D. Payne, Marilyn A. Payne
• Pages: 587-599

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Appeals

A. DEFINITION OF “APPELLATE COURT”

Section () of the Divorce A ct provides that “‘appel late court,’ in respect of an

appeal from a court, means the court exercising appellate jurisdiction with

respect to that appeal.” is denition is relevant to the operation of sec-

tions  and () of the Act. An examination of the aforementioned pro-

visions indicates that the determination of the appropriate appellate court

and the procedure applicable on appea ls has been delegated to the provi nces.

Although section  of the Constitution Act,  binds both the Parliament

of Canada and the provincial legislatures and precludes any appellate juris-

diction in divorce proceed ings being exercised by tribu nals other than those

presided over by federally appointed judges, some exibility exists for the

provinces to select the appropr iate appellate court in exercis ing their legisla-

tive jurisdiction over the administration of justice. e composition of the

appellate court cou ld also vary according to whether the appe al is in respect

of an interim order or a perm anent order for corollary relief.

B. GENERA L OBSERVATIONS

Section () of the Divorce Act confers a general right to appeal from any

judgment or order, whether nal or interim, made pursuant to the Act. Sec-

tions (), () and (), however, impose restrictions on the right of appeal,

which vary according to whether the appeal relates to the judgment qua

 As to the prov incial power of a tr ial judge to reser ve or refer matters to an appe llate

court, see Ar nold v Arnold (–),  NSR  (CA); Iantsis v Papatheodorou (), 

RFL  (Ont CA).