Litigation 2026

THE TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Stephen Wilson KC, Dominique Gardiner and Lovelie Luxama, Wilson Wells

Appeals from the Supreme Court to the Court of Appeal are governed by the Court of Appeal Act (Chapter 2.01) and the Court of Appeal (Practice and Procedure) Rules, which provide that the Court of Appeal Rules of the Bahama Islands shall apply mutatis mutandis to appeals from the Supreme Court of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Generally, when a party in a civil action is dissatis- fied with a decision, order or judgment, they have a general right of appeal in relation to final orders made against them; however, in the case of interlocutory orders made by the Supreme Court, they must obtain leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal. If the Supreme Court refuses to grant leave, an application for leave to appeal may be made to the Court of Appeal. 10.3 Procedure for Taking an Appeal An appeal from the Magistrate’s Court to the Supreme Court must be made within five days following the day on which the magistrate has given their decision, and is made by the appellant serving a notice in writing on the magistrate and on the other party of their inten- tion to appeal and also the general grounds of their appeal. The appellant must also enter into satisfactory security before the magistrate for the due prosecution of the appeal in the Supreme Court. An appeal from the Registrar to a judge of the Supreme Court is brought by serving – on every other party to the proceedings in which the judgment, order or deci- sion was given or made – a notice to attend before the judge on a day specified in the notice. Unless the court orders otherwise, the notice must be issued within five days after the judgment, order or decision appealed against was given or made, and served not less than two clear days before the day fixed for the hearing. In the case of appeals from the Supreme Court to the Court of Appeal, the appellant must: • give notice in writing of their intention to appeal and the general grounds of their appeal to the Registrar of the Supreme Court and to the oppo- site party or parties in the action within 28 days of the judgment, decree or order against which the

appeal is made (Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act); and • file and serve a notice of appeal within the follow- ing periods, calculated from the date on which the judgment or order of the court below was signed, entered or otherwise perfected (Rule 13 of the Court of Appeal (Practice and Procedure) Rules): (a) 14 days in the case of an appeal from an inter- locutory order; and (b) six weeks in any other case. 10.4 Issues Considered by the Appeal Court at an Appeal An appeal to the Supreme Court from the Magistrate’s Court – and every other court, tribunal or person from which an appeal lies to the Supreme Court – shall be by way of rehearing. An appeal from the Supreme Court to the Court of Appeal is by way of a review, and the Court of Appeal is usually constrained to have before it only the evi- dence that was before the lower court. The Court of Appeal is tasked with determining if the trial judge erred in such a way that it is appropriate to alter the trial judge’s decision or send the matter back for rehearing. If the judge in the lower court has been given discretion and has exercised it, the exercise of that discretion cannot be overturned simply because the Court of Appeal might exercise its discretion in a different way. The appellant has to demonstrate that the exercise of the discretion was unreasonable and that the trial judge either took into account something that they should not have taken into account or failed to take into account something that they should have. New arguments on the law may be allowed at the discretion of the Court of Appeal. 10.5 Court-Imposed Conditions on Granting an Appeal As stated in 10.3 Procedure for Taking an Appeal , a party appealing from the Magistrate’s Court to the Supreme Court is required to enter into security for the due prosecution of the appeal. When granting leave to appeal, the relevant court can impose conditions. If there is money due and owing to a party, the court can require the appellant to pay the money into court. The court can make orders preventing the sale or disposal of property pending the hearing of the appeal.

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