Criminal appeals: overview

What is an appeal

An appeal may be filed by an accused person or the prosecution to reverse one or more of the following types of court decisions:

• Conviction or acquittal: Whether you are guilty of an offence.
• Sentence: The punishment imposed on you, such as an imprisonment term or fine.
• Court order: Certain types of other orders made in the trial or mention.

Who can appeal

Both the accused and the prosecution can file an appeal. Victims and other people not involved in the court case cannot appeal.

The party who files an appeal is known as the appellant.
The other party to the appeal is known as the respondent.

What can be appealed against

You can only appeal against a decision made by the court.

If you were convicted after pleading guilty, you cannot appeal against your conviction. You can only appeal against your sentence or any other order made by the court.

If you were convicted after a trial, you can appeal against your conviction, sentence and/or any other order made by the court.

Grounds of appeal

You should have reasons to support why you are dissatisfied with the court's decision.

For example, if you are appealing against your conviction, your appeal should be based on one or more of the following:

• An error of law: If you think the judge made a mistake in the content or application of the law.
• An error of fact: If you think the judge made a mistake about material facts (for example, by deciding that something happened when it did not).

If you are appealing against your sentence, in addition to showing an error of law or an error of fact, you can also show that the punishment is unduly harsh in the circumstances of the case. For example, when compared to the harm caused by the offence or any previous case involving similar facts and circumstances.

The appellate court may reject your appeal without a hearing if you do not provide any reasons which could raise a reasonable doubt as to the correctness of the lower court's decision. ⁽¹⁾

Deadline for appeal

• In an appeal against conviction, or an appeal against conviction and sentence, to start the appeal process, you must file a Notice of Appeal within 14 days after the date of the sentence. If you wish to appeal against conviction, you should not file the appeal until the lower court imposes a sentence for the offence.
• In any other case, you must file a Notice of Appeal within 14 days after the date of the judgment, sentence or order.

Note: The number of days includes weekends but excludes the day on which the sentence was made.

Note: If you were charged before 2 January 2011, the deadline is 10 days.

Which court will hear the appeal

The General Division of the High Court will hear appeals against decisions made by the State Courts (a Magistrate’s Court or District Court). Find out how to appeal against a decision of the State Courts.

The Court of Appeal will hear appeals against decisions made by the General Division of the High Court where the trial or plead guilty mention was heard by the General Division of the High Court. Find out how to appeal against a decision of the General Division of the High Court.

Outcomes of appeal

These are the possible outcomes if you appeal:

The court's decision on appeal is final and cannot be further appealed against.

If there are grounds for doing so, you may apply for permission to refer a question of law of public interest to the Court of Appeal ⁽²⁾

What happens if the prosecution appeals

The prosecution can appeal against one or more of the following court decisions:

• Your acquittal order (if you were found not guilty).
• Your sentence or any other order made by the court.

If the appeal is successful, one or more of the following may happen:

In other instances, the appellate court may dismiss the appeal and there will be no changes to the lower court’s decision. In other cases, the appellate court may send the case back to the lower court for a retrial or for other reasons, such as for further evidence to be recorded.

Resources

Footnotes

⁽¹⁾ Section 384(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code

⁽²⁾ Section 397(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code