The an and the quomodo of the right to appeal

a theoretical framework

Abstract

The paper reproduces the report presented during the International Congress “Revisiting The Fundamental Guarantees Of Civil Litigation” held at the Plenary Hall of the Court of Justice of the State of Espírito Santo (TJES 1) - Vitória (Brazil) on the 2nd-4th April 2025, panel “Right to Appeal and Discretionary Filters of Access to Superior and Supreme Courts”. The contribution aims to reconstruct, from the point of view of general theory and comparative law, the potential existence and extent of the right to appeal. Although concluding that this right tends not to be recognized (unlike the right to access to court), the author nevertheless argues that the provision of at least one level of appeal is in the state’s own interest, and that any limits to this right can be set, but must pass a rationality test.