What are perfected grounds of appeal?
<p>According to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange" rel="noreferrer">Julian Assange</a>'s anti extradition campaign, in late August his lawyers had filed their &quot;perfected grounds of appeal&quot;. Just what does it mean for the grounds to be perfected?</p>

<p>Julian Assange's current litigation is an appeal to the High Court, pursuant to <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/41/section/108" rel="nofollow noreferrer">section 108</a> of the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/41" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Extradition Act 2003</em></a>, against the Home Secretary's extradition order of 17 June 2022. The procedure for extradition appeals to the High Court is set out in <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/759/part/50/crossheading/7" rel="nofollow noreferrer">section 3 of Part 50</a> of the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/759" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Criminal Procedure Rules 2020</em></a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/759/rule/50.20" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rule 50.20</a> requires Assange to apply for leave to appeal by filing an appeal notice which identifies his grounds of appeal. There is also a requirement to file skeleton arguments under <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/924052/crim-practice-directions-XI-other-proceedings-2015.pdf#page=20" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Practice Direction 50E</a> in <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/924052/crim-practice-directions-XI-other-proceedings-2015.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Division XI</a> of the <em>Criminal Practice Directions 2015</em>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/759/rule/50.30" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rule 50.30</a> provides for an extradition appeal to be determined in appropriate cases by a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divisional_Court_(England_and_Wales)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">divisional court</a>. That is what happened in the last appeal, <em>United States of America v Assange</em> <a href="https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2021/3313.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">[2021] EWHC 3313 (Admin)</a>. The &quot;<a href="https://www.gov.uk/courts-tribunals/administrative-court" rel="nofollow noreferrer">specialist court</a> within the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Court_of_Justice#Queen%27s_Bench_Division" rel="nofollow noreferrer">King's Bench Division</a> of the High Court&quot; which determined that case is known as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_Court_(England_and_Wales)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Administrative Court</a>.</p>
<p>The Administrative Court is quite similar to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_Appeal_(England_and_Wales)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Court of Appeal</a> and its senior members <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/who-are-the-judiciary/judges/coa-judges/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">sit on both courts</a>. The last appeal was determined by the Lord Chief Justice and a Lord Justice of Appeal. So, it would not be surprising if the orders made for case management of this Administrative Court proceeding adopted the practice of the Court of Appeal.</p>
<p>The practice of &quot;perfection of grounds of appeal&quot; is described in <a href="https://www.criminalbar.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/The-Court-of-Appeal-Division-Guide-to-Commencing-Proceedings-1.pdf#page=11" rel="nofollow noreferrer">section A8</a> of the <a href="https://www.criminalbar.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/The-Court-of-Appeal-Division-Guide-to-Commencing-Proceedings-1.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Court of Appeal Criminal Division Guide to Commencing Proceedings</em></a> (July 2021). In that jurisdiction, perfected grounds &quot;consist of a fresh document
which supersedes the original grounds of appeal and contains <em>inter alia</em> references by page number and letter (or paragraph number) to all relevant passages in the transcript,&quot; which may not be available when the grounds are first prepared.</p>
<p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/924052/crim-practice-directions-XI-other-proceedings-2015.pdf#page=6" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Practice Direction 50A</a> emphasises the importance of expedition in extradition appeals, especially &quot;where the issues are such that further information from the requesting authority or state is needed.&quot; It is likely that the case management orders made in Assange's appeal allowed him to file some initial grounds of appeal and later &quot;perfect&quot; them, possibly after receiving documents that were not available when the grounds were first lodged, or a grant of leave to appeal.</p>
<p>This accords with the normal use of the verb &quot;to perfect&quot; in legal contexts (eg. the perfection of a judgment or security interest), which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>To complete or finish successfully; to carry through, accomplish. In early use also: † to bring to fulfilment or full development (<em>obsolete</em>). Now chiefly <em>Law</em> and <em>Finance</em>.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>&quot;Perfected&quot; does not, as far as I have been able to establish, have a specific legal meaning in England and Wales.</p>
<p>In the absence of such, the convention is to use the normal meaning of the word; usually by reference to the Oxford English Dictionary which (unfortunately) is now behind a paywall.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/perfected" rel="noreferrer">Merrian Webster</a> includes these synonyms:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>completed, finished</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Which, without knowing the context in which it was used, seem to be the most likely candidates.</p>

england-and-wales legal-terms definition