Prepare an outline of submissions for an appeal

An 'outline of submissions' is a document that explains your case to the Commission and to the other party. You may also submit statements of evidence from witnesses if you plan to use them during the appeal.

We ask for an outline of submissions from:

• the ‘appellant’ – the person who is appealing
• the ‘respondent’ – the person who needs to respond to the appeal.

When to submit it

You need to submit this by the date we give you when we confirm the hearing. This is usually at least a few weeks before the hearing.

Before the appeal, you must write a summary, or ‘outline’, of the information you plan to submit.

The content of the submission

In the outline of your submission, you should:

• explain the reason (‘grounds’) for your appeal
• provide any specific and major legal or factual errors you believe were in the original case
• list any previous decisions ('case law') you wish to rely on in the appeal.

If you are appealing an unfair dismissal or general protections decision, you must also include clear details of why it is in the public interest for us to grant permission to appeal.

The format we need

• for page 1 of your submission, you must use or follow our appeal submission template (doc)
• use A4 paper size
• double-space your text
• keep to 10 pages or less.

All parties must lodge their outline of submissions with the Commission. To do this:

• email the chambers that appear on the information we sent you (notice of listing) OR
• submit 3 printed copies in person or by post to the chambers in the notice of listing.

After you submit the outline, you must serve a copy on the other parties to the appeal.