Appellate procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating a request to change an official decision of a trial or administrative court. These rules govern how an appeal may be commenced, what kind of notice (if any) is required, the types of briefs, pleadings or statements of case, motions, and orders allowed in appeals, the timing and manner of the appeal, the conduct of appellate hearings, the process for decisions, various available remedies, and how the courts and clerks must function.

The rule

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

s which control the nature and conduct of a legal appeal

Appeal

An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....

, which may be:

• door closing

e.g., "the notice of appeal shall be filed with the clerk

Court clerk

A court clerk is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining the records of a court. Another duty is to administer oaths to witnesses, jurors, and grand jurors...

 of the lower court

Lower court

A lower court is a court from which an appeal may be taken. In relation to an appeal from one court to another, the lower court is the court whose decision is being reviewed, which may be the original trial court or an appellate court lower in rank than the superior court which is hearing the...

 within thirty days of the date of the entry of the judgment appealed from"

• discretionary

e.g., "upon a showing of excusable neglect, the lower court may extend the time for filing the notice of appeal for a period not to exceed thirty days"

• technical

e.g., "the composition of the record on appeal shall include the original papers and exhibits on file, the transcript of proceedings, and a certified copy of the docket

Docket

Docket may refer to:*Docket , the official schedule of proceedings in lawsuits pending in a court of law. Term also includes a case identification number and reference point and case history for all case work involving a particular case....

 entries..."

• process
  Service of process
  Service of process is the procedure employed to give legal notice to a person of a court or administrative body's exercise of its jurisdiction over that person so as to enable that person to respond to the proceeding before the court, body or other tribunal...
  
   oriented

e.g., requirements for giving copies of all papers filed to all other parties

• economic

e.g., filing fees, assessments of legal costs, etc.

• punitive

e.g., penalties for infractions such as frivolous appeals

• informative
  Information
  Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...
  
  

e.g., the duties of the clerk's office.