Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the threshold is for the number of appeals that can be made in a family court hearing.

There is no statutory limit on the number of oral requests that a party can make at any hearing for permission to appeal.

Appeals of family decisions to the family court and the High Court are governed by Part 30 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 and Practice Directions 30A and 30B, which set out the legal and procedural requirements. This includes a clear process that must be followed if a party wishes to appeal a decision and sets out that most decisions will need permission to be appealed.

Part 30 and the relevant Practice Directions ensure that only appeals with a real prospect of success, or other compelling reasons, are given permission to appeal.