Need to Appeal a Contact Order

[thejanuarys]

Hello. Abusive ex used legal team to manipulate a final contact hearing and I was representing myself and wasn't given sufficient time to read the argument made by his barrister. Ended up in the most unequal contact in his favour and now I need to get this overturned. My daughter and I have no quality time together, and he gets the lion's share of all holiday and weekend time. Has anyone gone through this? What do I need to do? Has anyone managed this on their own without solicitors? I cannot get legal aid as I own half my house. I need to appeal this order, but how? Thanks

For an appeal to succeed you have to prove that the judge was `plainly wrong' in the making the decision that he/she did. You will not win an appeal if you don't just like the decision that was made.

Grounds for appeal are commonly that the trial judge (or magistrates):

1.) Made a mistake (erred) in law;
2.) Took into account some factor which he/she ought not to have taken into account;
3.) Did not take into account some factor which he/she ought to have taken into account;
4.) Gave no weight or insufficient weight to matters that they should have taken into account;
5.) Failed to give adequate consideration to the emotional needs of the child or other parts of the Welfare Checklist;
6.) Misdirected him/herself (e.g. incorrectly interpreted or quoted case law, court rules, judicial guidance etc);
7.) Was misled;
8.) There was no evidence on which a finding could be based.

For more info take a look here: www.thecustodyminefield.com/mobile/appeal.html

If your case is still open it may be worth considering addressing this issue at the next hearing. Think about using a McKenzie Friend if you can't afford to or don't want to use a solicitor too.

The bar for overturning a judgement is high. Very often a judge will set out why a decision has been made making reference to points on the Welfare Checklist.

Hope this helps.