| 释义 |
appeal
n. An application for the judicial examination by a higher tribunal of the decision of any lower tribunal. In modern English practice, most appeals are limited to a review of the decision of the lower tribunal using a transcript or note of the evidence heard by that tribunal. In some circumstances there may be a full rehearing in which witnesses are recalled and fresh evidence may be introduced. The appellate tribunal may in general make any order that the lower tribunal could have made, but there are some statutory restrictions upon this power; for example, in criminal cases the Court of Appeal may not impose a more severe sentence than the trial court. Appellate tribunals are usually reluctant to overrule the decisions of lower tribunals on questions of fact even when they have the power to do so; consequently, argument on appeals can be directed towards legal errors allegedly committed at the trial. In some cases (e.g. appeals by case stated from magistrates’ courts) the appeal may by law be confined to questions of law. Appeal may be contrasted with review, in which the higher tribunal is confined to an examination of the record of the lower tribunal’s proceedings (i.e. excluding evidence tendered). See also appellate jurisdiction. |