United Kingdom: Whether 'Appellant' Includes A Non-Party To First Instance Proceedings

A recent planning case which reached the Court of Appeal has

raised an issue which will be of interest to litigators in all

areas beyond planning law. The issue in question related to the

definition of "appellant" within the context of the

Civil Procedure Rules, specifically whether an individual or

commercial entity that has not been a party to first instance

proceedings has the locus standi to appeal a first instance

decision to a higher court.

The case in question was "M A Holdings Ltd v George

Wimpey UK Ltd and Tewkesbury Borough Council" [2008] EWCA

Civ. 12 where the judgment of Lord Justice Dyson provided an

informative review of the position both pre- and post-CPR.

The original dispute related to a property allocated for

residential development by Tewkesbury Borough Council under a

local plan. The owner of land not allocated for residential

development (C) brought proceedings under section 287 Town and

Country Planning Act 1990, objecting to the allocation of other

land, including land belonging to A, for residential

development.

The first instance judge allowed C's application on the

grounds that the Council's decision to allocate A's

site for residential development was irrational and that the

local authority had not complied with the relevant policy

guidance which required it to give adequate reasons for its

decision. The judge consequently ordered that those parts of

the local plan regarding the site be quashed. In other words,

A's land was no longer to be redeveloped.

A took issue with this decision and served a notice of

appeal. C objected, arguing that the court had no jurisdiction

to allow an appeal by A, given that it had played no part in

the first instance proceedings.

According to the judgment of Lord Justice Dyson, pre-CPR the

court had jurisdiction to grant leave to appeal to a person

adversely affected by a first...