Commentary on provisions of Act Appeals from High Court decisions Section 13: Appeals to Court of Appeal from High Court decisions
Various applications can be made to the High Court under Part I of the 1996 Act. For example, under section 9 of the 1996 Act a party can apply to court to stay legal proceedings in favour of arbitration proceedings. Some sections in Part I say expressly that a decision of the High Court can be appealed to the Court of Appeal only with the permission of the High Court. Other sections in Part I, including section 9, are silent.
	Rights of appeal to the Court of Appeal are governed by the Senior Courts Act 1981 (for England and Wales) and by the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978 (for Northern Ireland). The 1996 Act, Schedule 3, paragraphs 34(2) and 37(2), amended those Acts, in effect to say that no appeal was possible under Part I except for those sections which expressly required the permission of the High Court. This was a drafting error. The House of Lords in Inco Europe v First Choice Distribution (2000),4 a case involving section 9 of the 1996 Act, identified the drafting error, and said that the Senior Courts Act 1981 should be read as follows: the usual full rights to appeal to the Court of Appeal are available under all sections of Part I of the 1996 Act, except that an appeal requires the permission of the High Court only for those sections which say so expressly. Section 13 of this Act corrects the drafting error in line with the House of Lords decision.