یونس یوسفی گرجی

Despite the significance of the possibility of producing new evidence in the phase of appeal in a proceeding, there is no explicit rule in this regard. This issue is controversial among the scholars in the field of procedural law and the judges in connection with the appellate stage of a proceeding. Most of the courts have induced from the laws and regulations which governs this issue, the fact that a judge can make reference to the new evidence in the appellate, such as new investigation, inspection of scene, or new deeds, even if those evidences have been out of the point or have been deviated or have not been considered by the court of first instance due to any reason. Such approach, from the view point of precedent in the field of appeal, has been provoked by the Iranian Law of Civil Procedure (1939) and Article 563 of French new Civil Procedure Code and it can be said that the judicial precedents in this regard have been established on the basis of the same laws. The only limitation thereof is reference to the new evidence for proving those claims which had been under consideration of the first instance court. However, such precedent is not compatible with jurisprudential (feghhi) history of appeal and the very texts of some laws. Thus the conservative approach of the courts in this regard should be taken into account In the process of the future development of legislation. By following such an approach the legislator can be pushed to revert to the previous laws and regulations concerning the appeal, taking into account some adjustments thereto for confronting the prolongation of adjudications.

The appellate court shall hear a case which has been heard by the court of first instance and, in the nature of the case, has been voted on and appealed to. The appeal stage is the time when the higher court is asked to reconsider the lawsuit filed in the initial stage, as a result of which the application of the first court is somewhat revised. Accordingly, because Articles 7 and 357 of the Procedure general and revolutionary courts cod in civil matters require the involvement of third parties who are not present at the initial stage and must be prohibited in principle, this principle is sometimes accompanied by exceptions. These include third-party entry, impleader,  attachment of relief and temporary order. The time to file a counter-claim in the first instance is until the end of the first hearing. Exceptionally, if a third-party entry lawsuit and impleader is filed at the appellate stage, or the new claim is legally heard, the defendant can be sued in the counter-claim. Article 362 of the Code of Civil Procedure of Iran and Articles 563 and 566 of the Code of Civil Procedure of France, ignoring the principle of two-stage proceedings, have prescribed some examples of new claims in the appeal stage.