Permission to appeal in the COA civil division is granted based on which factor?

• A. Public interest
• B. Cost considerations
• C. Importance of the legal point
• D. Speed of resolution

Answer: (C)

Permission to appeal in the Court of Appeal (civil division) hinges on whether the appeal raises an important point of law of general public importance, or there is a real prospect of success on the appeal, or another compelling reason. The idea is to gatekept the appellate route for cases that genuinely affect the law, not to reward every disappointed party.

In this sense, the emphasis is on the significance of the legal point rather than on factors like cost or speed. Public interest can be related to the importance of the point, but the decisive test is whether the legal point is important enough to warrant Court of Appeal consideration. Costs and speed are not the primary criteria for granting permission.