Short answer. It must indicate the parties to the appeal, specify the judgment, final order, or part of it being appealed, specify the court the appeal is being taken to, and state the material dates showing that the appeal was filed on time.
What the law says
The notice of appeal shall indicate the parties to the appeal, specify the judgment or final order or part thereof appealed from, specify the court to which the appeal is being taken, and state the material dates showing the timeliness of the appeal.
Rule 41, Section 5 — Notice of appeal. Read the full provision →
Required contents
The notice of appeal must indicate the parties to the appeal, specify the particular judgment or final order, or the specific part of it, that is being appealed from, specify the court to which the appeal is being taken, and state the material dates that show the appeal was filed within the timeliness requirements. Leaving out any one of these elements can create uncertainty about whether the notice actually satisfies what the Rule requires of it.
Why the material dates matter, and why the scope must be clear
Stating the material dates lets the reviewing court verify, directly from the notice itself, that the appeal was actually filed within the reglementary period, without having to dig elsewhere in the record for that information. Specifying exactly which judgment or final order, or which part of it, is being appealed similarly avoids any ambiguity about what the appeal actually covers.
A simple but essential document
The notice of appeal is the document that actually initiates the appeal from the Regional Trial Court to the Court of Appeals in an ordinary appeal, so getting each of these required contents right is foundational to having a valid appeal in the first place. Because so much of the appeal's validity depends on this one document, care in preparing it pays off later if the appeal's timeliness or scope is ever questioned.
What omitting an element can risk
Because the Rule lists these contents as what the notice 'shall' indicate, leaving one out is not treated as a harmless formality — a notice that fails to specify the court the appeal is being taken to, for instance, or that omits the material dates showing timeliness, invites exactly the kind of dispute over the appeal's validity that a complete notice is meant to avoid. Preparing the notice carefully against this checklist protects the appeal from being derailed by an avoidable defect in the document that starts it. None of these four requirements, on their own, address the separate question of whether the appeal was taken from an appealable judgment or order in the first place; a notice can satisfy every listed content requirement and still fail if it seeks to appeal from an order the Rules do not allow to be appealed at all.
Related provisions
- Rule 41, Section 5 — Notice of appeal
- Rule 41, Section 4 — Appellate court docket and other lawful fees
- Rule 41, Section 6 — Record on appeal; form and contents thereof