The court considered the role of the appeal court in assessing an order for maintenance payable for a divorced wife. The judge’s decision had been made by an exercise of his discretion.
Held: Asquith LJ said: ‘It is, of course, not enough for the wife to establish that this court might, or would, have made a different order. We are here concerned with a judicial discretion, and it is of the essence of such a discretion that on the same evidence two different minds might reach widely different decisions without either being appealable. It is only where the decision exceeds the generous ambit within which reasonable disagreement is possible, and is, in fact, plainly wrong, that an appellate body is entitled to interfere.’
Asquith LJ
[1948] 1 All ER 343
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Piglowska v Piglowski HL 24-Jun-1999
No Presumption of House for both Parties
When looking to the needs of parties in a divorce, there is no presumption that both parties are to be left able to purchase alternative homes. The order of sub-clauses in the Act implies nothing as to their relative importance. Courts should be . .
Approved – G v G (Minors: Custody Appeal) HL 25-Apr-1985
The House asked when a decision, on the facts, of a first instance court is so wrong as to allow it to be overturned on appeal.
Held: The epithet ‘wrong’ is to be applied to the substance of the decision made by the lower court. ‘Certainly it . .
Cited – AM v Local Authority and Another; Re B-M (Care Orders) CA 16-Mar-2009
The father sought leave to appeal against care orders made in respect of his three children. The family were Pakistani Pathan muslims. There had been disputes and violence within the extended family. One family member sought protection but was now . .
Cited – Clarke-Hunt v Newcombe CA 1982
Cumming-Bruce LJ discussed the difficulty faced by an appeal court: ‘There was not really a right solution: there were two alternative wrong solutions. The problem for the judge was to appreciate the factors pointing in each direction and to decide . .
Applied – Norbis v Norbis 30-Apr-1986
The parties disputed a settlement of property on divorce, and on appeal the court had to consider how it should approach a judgment made at the discretion of the judge at first instance.
Held: After citing Bellendon, Brennan J added: ‘The . .
Cited – In re R (A Child) CA 29-Apr-2009
The mother appealed against an order awarding residence of her two children to the paternal grandparents. . .
Cited – In re R (A Child) CA 22-May-2009
. .
Cited – Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce v Beck CA 26-Jun-2009
. .
Cited – MHA v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions UTAA 28-Oct-2009
. .
Cited – Truter v University of Leicester and Others EAT 24-Nov-2009
EAT PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE: Postponement or stay
There was no basis for interfering with case management directions of an Employment Judge refusing a stay, nor grounds for allowing interim appeals when the . .
Cited – Macintyre v Chief Constable of Kent and others CA 24-Jul-2002
The defendants appealed against case management directions made in this defamation action. . .
Quoted – Horth v Thompson QBD 6-Jul-2010
After a personal injury claim, the judge had apportioned liability and ordered each side to pay the costs of the other. The case had been allocated to the fast track.
Held: The appeal failed. The existence of the Conditional Fee Agreement did . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Family, Litigation Practice
Updated: 06 December 2021; Ref: scu.197924