Guernsey Legal Resources

  An appeal from the Magistrate’s Court to the Royal Court under the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrate’s Court (Guernsey) Law 1988, s.30, in respect of an order for financial provision for a child made under the Loi relative à l’entretien des enfants illégitimes 1927, as amended, and ss. 3 and 10 of the 1988 Law, is not by way of re-hearing. There is a presumption that the findings of fact by the Magistrate and his decision on them were correct and they should be accepted by the Royal Court unless perverse (1(2) Rayden & Jackson on Divorce & Family Matters, 18th ed., para. 51.66, at 51/74 (2005)).

  On an appeal against an order made in the exercise of the Magistrate’s discretion, the Royal Court should not interfere with that exercise of discretion unless it has reached the conclusion that the Magistrate’s exercise of discretion must be set aside. It does not begin by exercising an independent discretionary judgment of its own; it must defer to the lower court’s exercise of its discretion and not interfere merely because it would have exercised the jurisdiction differently. It may set aside the decision only if it was based on a misunderstanding of the law or the evidence, or a wrong inference of fact was drawn from that evidence, or there has been a subsequent change of circumstances (H v. H, Royal Ct., Judgment 58/2004, November 23rd, 2004, unreported, dicta of Brelsford, Lieut. Bailiff applied; Att. Gen. (Jersey) v. Edmond-O’Brien, 2006 JLR 133, followed; Hawkins v. Greenwood (1985), 2 GLJ 57, observations of Frossard, Bailiff applied).