When the requirement of leave to appeal was introduced at the beginning of 1980, the position of the Supreme Court as the court changed considerably. The earlier system of appeal with a hierarchy of three court instances was replaced by a system with two instances: a decision of a court of first instance may usually be appealed against to one superior court.
The introduction of leave to appeal in early 1980 resulted in a significant change in the Supreme Court's position and its role in the judicial process. The previous hierarchical three-court system was replaced by a two-tiered system, with appeals moving from one court to another.