Judges aren't robots, and neither are civil servants—they're people, and people make mistakes. In our legal system, the appeal process is the built in mechanism for correcting those mistakes. If the mistakes happen in a court case, then the court appeal process is followed. If the mistakes happen in the actions of a government agency, then the administrative appeal process is followed.
Court Appeals
In a court appeal, the issue is the decision made by a judge or jury. Sometimes, the mistake is a legal one—the wrong law was applied, the correct law was interpreted incorrectly, and sometimes, the law simply needs to be changed. All three of these are addressed in the court appeal process.
In Illinois, we have a three-tiered court system: original cases are generally heard by the Circuit Courts, one in each county in Illinois; the first level of appeals is in the Appellate Courts, of which there are 5 in Illinois; and the final level of appeals in Illinois is the Illinois Supreme Court.
After a final decision is made in the Circuit Court, a litigant generally has 30 days to file a notice of appeal. This notifies the Circuit Court that an appeal is being filed and, broadly, what is being appealed, and also notifies the Appellate Court that an appeal is coming. Following the filing of a notice of appeal are a few more documents that explain what is being appealed, what dates of hearings might be important, what transcripts are required and have they been requested, etc. A critical part of any appeal is the preparation of the record on appeal. The record is the documentation that the Appellate Court receives so that it knows what happened in the Circuit Court. The record on appeal will include both the documents filed in the case, as well as certified transcripts of what was said in testimony during the hearings in the case.
Once those documents are prepared, an Appellant's Brief is prepared. This lays out the factual background, explains what the law is, and tells the Appellate Court what mistakes were made and what relief the Appellant (the person filing the appeal) wants. The Appellee gets their chance afterwards to file an Appellee's Brief. The Appellee's Brief will often reframe the facts of the case or even add additional facts that the Appellate Court needs, and will make the Appellee's case to the Appellate Court. The Appellant gets a final chance to file a written Reply Brief, and then the Appellate Court has the case to decide. Sometimes, the Appellate Court will schedule an oral argument in the case. Oral arguments are not always given, and provide the Court and the litigants the chance to make their case through oral advocacy, and often to answer hard questions posed by the Appellate Court. Eventually, the Appellate Court will issue its decision, either affirming the Circuit Court (not changing the decision) or reversing the Circuit Court in part or in whole (changing the decision). Sometimes, the Appellate Court will grant some specific relief, but often the case is remanded (sent back) to the Circuit Court for a new judgment to be entered consistent with the Appellate Court's decision.
Appeals to the Appellate Court are generally something that everyone has the right to, once there is a final decision in their case. But if a person is unsatisfied with the decision made by the Appellate Court, then they must ask the Supreme Court for permission to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court does not take every appeal that is requested—far from it. It declines to hear most cases, but where it does accept an appeal, much the same process is followed as was described above about the Appellate Court.
Administrative Appeals
An administrative appeal is the process of challenging the decision of a civil servant. The primary area where we handle administrative appeals is in the context of the Department of Children and Family Services, with either appeals of indicated reports or service appeals challenging an aspect of the services provided by the Department. In an administrative appeal, there generally isn't a large formal appeal brief filed, just a letter requesting the appeal. Then, depending on the type of appeal, it will be collecting the relevant information or documents from the agency, and preparing for the appeal itself. With indicated report appeals, there is a hearing where DCFS lays out the facts, documents, and information gathered during the investigation and argues to the administrative hearing officer why they believe that the report should be indicated. The appellant has the ability to then introduce evidence through testimony or documentation and argue why the report should be unfounded. In a service appeal, DCFS lays out why they believe the decision made on services was appropriate, introducing whatever evidence it believes to be necessary to the disposition of the appeal. The appellant then has the right to introduce evidence and then argue why the decision made was incorrect.
As you can see, administrative appeals are more informal and are generally less expensive and time consuming than a Court appeal. Ultimately, if an administrative appeal goes against you, you have the right to appeal that decision through the Circuit Court, by filing a complaint for administrative review. At that point, the Circuit Court is sitting in an analogous position to the Appellate Court in a traditional court appeal. You generally aren't introducing evidence in a complaint for administrative review, but instead are arguing over a disputed point of law or interpretation of facts.
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