De novo appeal

How de novo appeal works in practice.

De novo means anew. When a person appeals a Magistrates' Court decision to the County Court, the appeal is conducted de novo: the County Court hears the matter again from the beginning and reaches its own conclusion on the evidence and submissions before it, rather than examining the magistrate's reasons for legal error. Because the hearing starts fresh, material that was not before the magistrate can be put before the County Court. This differs from an appeal to the Court of Appeal from a higher-court trial, which is based on identifying a specific error. The appeal period from the Magistrates' Court is short, generally 28 days from the decision.