How to file a civil appeal

When you need this

Use this guide after a first-in­stance judg­ment or ruling in a civil case if you want it re­viewed on appeal. The dispute may concern a debt, in­her­i­tance, family matter, prop­er­ty, con­tract, or another sit­u­a­tion where the first-in­stance court’s con­clu­sions do not match the ev­i­dence or the law.

Do not apply civil dead­lines to a crim­i­nal judg­ment or an in­ves­ti­gat­ing judge’s ruling. Sep­a­rate 30-, 7-, or 5-day rules apply. See the guide to crim­i­nal appeals and the crim­i­nal appeal dead­line cal­cu­la­tor.

An appeal is not a repeat of the entire dispute from the be­gin­ning. It must explain exactly why the de­ci­sion is un­law­ful or un­jus­ti­fied: which facts were found in­cor­rect­ly, which ev­i­dence was as­sessed in­com­plete­ly, which rules were mis­ap­plied, and what de­ci­sion the ap­pel­late court should issue.

Which deadline or procedure applies

Under the Civil Pro­ce­dure Code, an appeal against a judg­ment must be filed within 30 days, and an appeal against a ruling within 15 days of pro­nounce­ment. If the hearing an­nounced only the in­tro­duc­to­ry and op­er­a­tive parts, or the matter was decided without sum­mon­ing the par­tic­i­pants, the period is cal­cu­lat­ed from the date the full judg­ment was pre­pared.

If the full text was not served on the par­tic­i­pant on the day it was pro­nounced or pre­pared, they may request renewal of the dead­line under the Code. It is im­por­tant to prove when the full judg­ment or ruling was ac­tu­al­ly re­ceived, using postal records, the elec­tron­ic cabinet, a receipt, or other ev­i­dence.

File the appeal di­rect­ly with the ap­pel­late court. The appeal must iden­ti­fy the court and par­tic­i­pants, the judg­ment or ruling being chal­lenged, the grounds showing why it is un­law­ful or un­jus­ti­fied, the re­quests, the date the de­ci­sion was re­ceived, and the at­tach­ments.

What to do step by step

First obtain the full de­ci­sion. Do not rely only on a short an­nounce­ment at the hearing or in­for­ma­tion from a reg­is­ter. Record the prepa­ra­tion and service dates because they de­ter­mine the dead­line and whether you need to request renewal.

Next decide what to chal­lenge: the entire judg­ment, one part, the al­lo­ca­tion of court costs, or a ruling that may be ap­pealed sep­a­rate­ly. Rulings may be ap­pealed sep­a­rate­ly only in cases pro­vid­ed for by the Civil Pro­ce­dure Code. If a ruling cannot be ap­pealed sep­a­rate­ly, ob­jec­tions to it may be in­clud­ed in an appeal against the judg­ment.

Then set out your grounds. A strong appeal does not just say “I dis­agree”; it com­pares the court’s find­ings with the ev­i­dence and the law. If you submit new ev­i­dence, explain why it could not have been sub­mit­ted earlier. If you request renewal of the dead­line, include a sep­a­rate request and doc­u­ments showing when the de­ci­sion was re­ceived.

What to check before filing

Check all appeal details before filing: ap­pel­late court, party in­for­ma­tion, postal ad­dress­es, elec­tron­ic cab­i­nets, case number, date and title of the de­ci­sion, re­quests, and at­tach­ments. A rep­re­sen­ta­tive must include proof of au­thor­i­ty.

Check the court fee sep­a­rate­ly. The rate depends on what is being chal­lenged and the rate that would have applied to the orig­i­nal ap­pli­ca­tion or appeal. If you qualify for an ex­emp­tion, de­fer­ral, or re­duc­tion, state the grounds and provide proof. If the fee was over­paid or review ends through a pro­ce­dur­al step, check the grounds for a court-fee refund. If you chal­lenge the al­lo­ca­tion of legal as­sis­tance costs or have not yet sub­mit­ted first-in­stance cost ev­i­dence, see the guide to lawyer costs in a civil case.

If you are chal­leng­ing one or­di­nary prop­er­ty judg­ment without an ex­emp­tion, start with the pre­lim­i­nary appeal fee cal­cu­la­tor. The guide to check­ing the rate and payment can help verify the year of the orig­i­nal claim and the court’s payment details.

Also check that copies were sent to the other par­tic­i­pants. Sep­a­rate proof-of-service rules apply to filings through the elec­tron­ic cabinet. For paper filings, keep the en­clo­sure list, re­ceipts, and track­ing in­for­ma­tion.

When to consult a lawyer

A lawyer can help if the dead­line is close or has passed, the de­ci­sion is lengthy, the case con­tains sub­stan­tial ev­i­dence, you need to add new doc­u­ments, or you are ap­peal­ing only part of the case. In these sit­u­a­tions, general state­ments will not make an ef­fec­tive appeal.

For cases in Lviv, a con­sul­ta­tion can also help quickly check the ap­pel­late court, court fee, elec­tron­ic cabinet, prospects for re­new­ing the dead­line, and which ar­gu­ments have real pro­ce­dur­al value.