The gradual constitutionalisation of the right to appeal
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5944/rdp.120.2024.41762Keywords:
Remedy, formalism, assessment of evidence, reviewAbstract
It is not self-evident that appeal against court decisions should be the subject of a fundamental right. There are very different constitutional regulations around the world, with some expressly recognising it, others taking it for granted and a third group simply not mentioning the issue at all. Countries' trends tend to reflect their historical trajectory, although there are some truly curious cases in this regard. Indeed, all sorts of things have been done with the primitive appellatio of Roman law.
This article reviews constitutional regulations worldwide, not distinguishing by geographical regions per se, but by the trends mentioned above. It also deals with appeals to supranational courts, where they exist, a notable case being that of the European Court of Human Rights, which has in fact become a kind of last resort, very exceptional, but really effective. Attention is also devoted to the model of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and the very recent case of the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights, which will be worth watching in the future, is also discussed.
After all this descriptive but critical analysis, it is concluded that in order to guarantee better protection for citizens, it would be advisable for the right to appeal to be expressly constitutionalised. This would eliminate doubts, at the same time reflect a legal tradition that is deeply rooted in the world and could finally put a stop to the usual formalism in the admission of means of appeal.
Summary: 1. Introduction. 2. Access to internal remedies. A. Discretion of the legislature to provide access to remedies? A.1. According to national law. A.2. According to regional and international instruments. 3. Specific remedies in case of violation of [some] constitutional or fundamental rights? A. Constitutional remedies. B. External remedies. B.1. At regional level. B.1.1. In Europe: the individual complaint before the ECtHR. B.1.2. Interamerican Commission [and Court] of Human Rights and African Court on Human and People’s Rights. B.2. At international level. B.3. Impact of supranational remedies and jurisprudence on the existence or the design of national remedies. 4. Should a right to appeal exist? A. Essence. B. Usefulness of its constitutionalisation / fundamentalisation.
Downloads
References
Andrews, N., “La Corte Suprema del Regno Unito: riflessioni sul ruolo della più elevata corte britannica”, Riv. trim. dir. proc. civ. 2010, p. 877 y ss.
Blackstone, W., Commentaries on the Laws of England, III, London 1794.
Calamandrei, P., La Cassazione civile, Milano 1920, en: Piero Calamandrei, Opere Giuridiche, Vol. VI y VII., Napoli 1976. vol. II, p. 50 y ss.
Calvo Sánchez, C. La revisión civil, Madrid 1977.
Chiarloni, S., “La cassazione e le norme”, Riv. di dir. proc. civ. 1990, p. 992 y ss.
Clooney, A.;Webb, P., The Right to a Fair Trial in International Law, Oxford 2021.
Cross, R.; Harris, J.W., El precedente en el Derecho inglés, Madrid 2011.
Dalton, H.L., “Taking the Right to Appeal (More or Less) Seriously”, The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 95, No. 1 (Nov., 1985), pp. 62-107.
De Vicente y Caravantes, José, Tratado histórico, crítico filosófico de los procedimientos judiciales en materia civil según la nueva Ley de Enjuiciamiento, Madrid 1856.
Djukic, D., “The Right to Appeal in Comparative Perspective”, 19 J. App. Prac. & Process 187 (2018).
Doval de Mateo, J. La revisión civil, Barcelona 1979.
Esi Örücü, “The Core of Rights and Freedoms: The Limit of Limits”, en Human Rights: From Rhetoric to Reality, (Tom Campbell et al. eds., 1986), pp. 37–59.
Ferrand, F., Cassation française et Revision allemande, Paris 1993.
Goldstein, “The Role of Supreme Courts at the National and International Level: Common Law Countries, in The Role of the Supreme Courts at the National and International Level”, Reports of the Thessaloniki International Colloquium, 21-25 may 1997, p. 279.
Guasch Fernández, S., El hecho y el derecho en la casación civil, Barcelona 1998.
Gutman, K., “The Essence of the Fundamental Right to an Effective Remedy and to a Fair Trial in the Case-Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union: The Best Is Yet to Come?”, German Law Journal, September 2019 , p. 884 – 903.
Halperin, J-L., Le Tribunal de Cassation et ses pouvoirs, Paris 1987.
Hood, “The Right of Appeal”, 29 Lousiana Law Review 498 (1968-1969).
Jolowicz, J. A., “The Role of the Supreme Court at the National and International Level”, en The Role of the Supreme Courts at the National and International Level. Reports of the Thessaloniki International Colloquium, 21-25 may 1997, Tesalónica 1998, p. 37.
Jouanneau / Solon, Discussions du code Napoléon dans le Conseil d'État, Paris 1808.
Kaser / Hackl, Das römische Zivilprozessrecht, München 1996.
Kotlyarova, V.V., “On the Powers of the Court of Appeal in Civil Procedure”, 2017 Herald Civ. Proc. 66 (2017).
Lenaerts, K., “Limits on Limitations: The Essence of Fundamental Rights in the EU”, 20 German L.J. 779 (2019).
Lenaerts, K.; Gutiérrez-Fons, J.A., “The Place of the Charter in the EU Constitutional Edifice”, en The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: A Commentary, p. 1559–94 (Steve Peers et al. eds., 2014).
Lindblom, Henrik, “The role of Supreme Courts in Scandinavia”, 2009, p. 325 y ss, en: http://www.scandinavianlaw.se/pdf/39-15.pdf.
Maja Brkan, “The Concept of Essence of Fundamental Rights in the EU Legal Order: Peeling the Onion to its Core”, 14 Eur. Con. L. Rev. 332 (2018).
Marek Safjan; Dominik Düsterhaus, “A Union of Effective Judicial Protection: Addressing a Multi-level Challenge through the Lens of Article 47 CFREU”, 33 Y.B. EUR. L. 3, 37 (2014).
Marshall, “A Comparative Analysis of the Right to Appeal”, 22 Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law, 1 (2011-2012).
Meyn, I., “Why Civil and Criminal Procedure Are So Different: A Forgotten History”, 86 Fordham L. Rev. 697 (2017-2018).
Mitidiero, D., Cortes Superiores e Cortes Supremas, São Paulo 2013.
Nieva-Fenoll, ““Inmediación” y valoración de la prueba: el retorno de la irracionalidad”, Diario La Ley, n. 7783, 25-1-2012.
Nieva-Fenoll, J., “El origen inglés de la casación francesa”, Revista Ítalo-Española de Derecho Procesal, Vol. 1, 2020, p. 83-99.
Nieva-Fenoll, J., El recurso de casación ante el Tribunal de Justicia de las Comunidades Europeas, Barcelona 1998.
Nieva-Fenoll, J., “El modelo anglosajón en las Cortes supremas: ¿solución o elusión del problema de la casación?”, Revista de Processo, nº 219, mayo 2013, p. 185 y ss.
Nieva-Fenoll, Jurisdicción y proceso, Madrid 2009.
Nobles, R. Schiff, D., “The Right to Appeal and Workable Systems of Justice”, The Modern Law Review, 2002, Volume 65, Issue 5 p. 676-701.
Phillips, T. R., “The Constitutional Right to a Remedy”, 78 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1309 (2003).
Robertson, “The Right to Appeal”, 91, The North Carolina Law Review, 1219 (2012-2013).
Sacha Prechal, “The Court of Justice and Effective Judicial Protection: What Has the Charter Changed?”, en Fundamental Rights in International And European Law: Public And Private Law Perspectives 143, p. 152–53 (Christophe Paulussen et al. eds., 2016).
Schuman, D. “The Right to a Remedy”, 65 Temple L. Rev. 1197 (1992).
Solé Riera, J., Recurso de apelación civil, Barcelona 1993.
Sternberg, J., “Deciding Not to Decide: The Judiciary Act of 1925 and the Discretionary Court”, The Journal of Supreme Court History, Marzo 2008, vol. 33, p. 1.
Taruffo, M., “The Role of Supreme Courts at the National and International Level: Civil Law Countries”, en The Role of the Supreme Courts at the National and International Level. Reports of the Thessaloniki International Colloquium, 21-25 may 1997, Tesalónica 1998, p. 101.
Taruffo, M., El vértice ambiguo, Lima 2005.
Taruffo, M., “Las funciones de los tribunales supremos entre la uniformidad y la justicia”, Diario La Ley, n. 8473, 2015.
Van der Schyff, G. “Cutting to the Core of Conflicting Rights: The Question of Inalienable Cores in Comparative Perspective”, in Conflicts Between Fundamental Rights, p. 131–47 (Eva Brems ed., 2008).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
