Non-party appellants must show that their legal & equitable rights, not simply their reputation, have been affected by adverse judicial comment, explain Robert Wheal & Rebecca Copcutt
The recent decision in Gray v Boreh [2017] EWCA Civ 56 concerns the rights of individuals who did not bring or defend an action, but are nonetheless unhappy with the outcome. In many cases, this is because as part of the decision those individuals may have been the subject of adverse judicial comment which they wish to overturn.
Such persons who are not ‘full parties’ or ‘intervenors’, but who instead have been adversely affected by a judgment or court order, do have some standing and their predicament has been the subject of a number of decisions. For example, MA Holdings Ltd v George Wimpey UK Ltd and Tewkesbury Borough Council [2008] EWCA Civ 12, [2008] 3 All ER 859 established that non-parties could appeal because they fell firmly within the CPR’s definition of ‘appellant’ on the basis of the plain and ordinary meaning of the rules. More recently in Re W (a child) [2016] EWCA Civ 1140, [2016]
