Appeal – within the area of Court Trials the term details to the legal option to ask within the deadlines given per the Law, higher court to review a decision of a subordinate (lower) court, which decision has not yet entered in legal force. In most jurisdictions, the appeal is usually the 2nd stage court (the appellate court) claim. In some legal systems, it continues all the way up to the Supreme Court, where the decision is final in that it can no longer be appealed. That is why it is called “supreme” (although, in Australia, the supreme court is called the High Court). The higher court may overturn or uphold (i.e. reject) the lower court’s decision. Often, permission (leave) is required, to for an appeal to occur.
The 2nd stage court decision can also be appealed in cassation procedure (at the 3rd stage court, usually the last institution to deal with the case). There are two main figures participating in this process: The appellant – a person appealing within the provided deadlines to the higher court against a decision issued by a lower court. Against the appellant sits a defendant, who is called “appellee”, and who seeks to persuade the appeals court to affirm the 1st instance court’s decision.