Much of what was familiar before 26 April 1999 still remains.

From a district judge the appeal is to a circuit judge; from a circuit judge the appeal goes to the Court of Appeal.

But there are some major differences.Small but dissatisfiedWith arbitrated small claims, the dissatisfied party used to apply to set aside the district judge's award; now, in the small claims track, the challenge is by way of an appeal from the district judge's judgment.

That is all part of the culture of re-integrating small claims back into the county court model.

They had somewhat drifted away in the days of the non-existent small claims court.In the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR ), rule 27.12 spells out that the only two grounds for a small claims appeal are that there was a serious irregularity affecting the proceedings (note the emphasis on 'serious', and it has to have had a provable adverse effect on the case) or that the judge made a mistake of law.

Particulars of the irregularity or mistake must be given in the notice of appeal.The proceedings will have been tape recorded, so solicitors should not forget to ask for a transcript (but it will be prepared, initially at least, at the client's expense).

The time for appealing is 14 days after the day on which notice of the judgment was served on the appellant party.Rule 27.12(3) introduces the novel step of the circuit judge being able to dismiss obviously unmeritorious small claims appeals without a hearing.And finally, if the appeal is successful then practice direction (PD) 27, paragraph 8.10, says that the circuit judge will, if possible, go straight on from hearing the appeal to disposing of the case itself, saving the costs and delay of a rehearing before the same or another district judge.Moving up a track or twoAny appeal from a district judge from a case on the fast or multi-tracks will go to a circuit judge.

However, while an appeal relating to the new CPR procedure (did the procedural judge allocate to the correct track, was the judge unduly restrictive in the evidence permitted to be called at trial, etc?) will be issued in the court where the original decision was made, the appeal will in fact be heard by that court's designated civil judge (DCJ), sitting at his court.

The rationale behind the change is that with only 31 DCJs spread throughout the country there ought to be much greater uniformity of approach to the interpretation of the new rules.

It is to be hoped that local practice and procedure will have died a death once and for all.

Appeals from district judges on assessments will go to a circuit judge, but here permission to appeal is required (CPR rule 47.24 and part 47 PD).As for the other appeals from district judges (final trial decisions, housing cases, interim orders not relating to the new rules, appeals on enforcement issues, and so on), these will continue to go to the local circuit judge.

County Court Rules ord 13 r.1 and CCR ord 37 r.6 have survived the cull of old rules and are to be found in schedule 2 to the CPR.

Permission to appeal to the circuit judge is not currently required.An appeal from a district judge's interim order may be made as of right and is heard by the circuit judge by way of a rehearing (see CCR ord 13).

The time for appealing is still just five days.

An appeal from a final order of a district judge is again by right, under CCR ord 37, but at the slightly more leisurely pace of 14 days from the date of the order being appealed; the notice of appeal has to state the grounds of the appeal.

Solicitors should remember to enquire of the court office as to whether there is a tape recording of the hearing under appeal: CPR PD39, paragraph 6.And up a gearAs one would expect, appeals from the circuit judge go up to the Court of Appeal.

But this is where the biggest changes have been introduced.

Permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal is needed in every case except where the appeal relates to a committal order, the refusal to grant habeas corpus (Latin lives on) or the making of a secure accommodation order under section 25 of the Children Act 1989.The permission should be obtained from the circuit judge who is now under an obligation to raise the point at the end of the hearing.

No longer wi ll 'is there anything else?' just be a veiled encouragement for one party to apply for a costs order.

The circuit judge is charged with asking whether either party wants permission to appeal, and to deal with the matter there and then.

If there is any doubt in the circuit judge's mind whether an appeal would have a realistic prospect of success or involves a point of general principle, then permission to appeal will normally be refused.

It is always open to the Court of Appeal to grant it.

The time for appealing to the Court of Appeal is four weeks.While RSC ord 59 has survived almost intact in schedule 1 to the CPR, the third update to the Stationery Office blue books contains a 66-page PD dealing with appeals to the Court of Appeal.

It consolidates 44 previous practice directions and deals comprehensively with everything any practitioner needs to know, whether it be about skeleton arguments, case management in the Court of Appeal, listing and hear-by dates, bundles and documentation, or whatever.Paragraph 2.8 of the PD sets out the general test for permission.

The whole of the practice direction is absolutely invaluable reading for any practitioner heading towards the Court of Appeal.Annex C to the consolidated PD is the specimen form for permission to appeal.

It simply records whether the circuit judge granted or refused permission to appeal and the reasons for that decision, completed by the judge himself.

It is essential to have that form if a case is to be taken higher.

When completed, Annex C should be filed in the Civil Appeals Office on a renewed application for permission to appeal or when setting down an appeal.A group of supervising Lords Justice of Appeal maintains an oversight of various types of appeals.

All appeals relating to the CPR will come under the supervision of May LJ, who is also a member of the rules committee.

It ought to mean that any knotty problems with the CPR are resolved quickly, as they emerge from the DCJs below.In the pipelineSir Jeffery Bowman has conducted a review of the procedures in the Court of Appeal, Civil Division.

The implementation of many of his proposals depend on the implementation of the Access to Justice Bill currently winding its way through the House of Commons.

The appeal routes under the Bowman report will change: fast track appeals from circuit judges will go to a High Court judge rather than the Court of Appeal and all multi-track final appeals will go to the Court of Appeal, regardless of whether the trial was before a district judge or a circuit judge.

But the major proposed reform will be that permission to appeal will have to be obtained at all levels -- even from the district judge -- and there will normally only be one level of appeal.

If, say, the district judge refuses a party permission to call an expert, the decision would -- with permission -- be appealable to the DCJ, but from there it could go no farther.