How do I appeal?

You can only appeal against conviction to the Court of Appeal if you were convicted at the Crown Court.   If you were convicted in the Magistrates  Court, you need to appeal to the Crown Court (or possibly to the Administrative Court Office) and you should speak to the Magistrates  Court for advice on how to appeal.

How can I get legal advice about making an appeal?


If you had a solicitor or barrister representing you at court free through public funding (under a Representation Order) they must give you advice (in writing if you request it) about whether or not there are good grounds for an appeal.   If they think there are good grounds, they will fill the form in for you and send it to the Crown Court.   The Representation Order will cover your solicitors and barrister taking any further necessary action on your behalf right up to the stage when your application is sent to a judge.

If you have already had advice from your barrister saying there are no grounds for appeal, you don't have the right to public funding to get further advice from a different barrister. 

In some circumstances it may be possible for you to be given further public funding to get advice from or have enquiries made by new legal representatives.  However, it may be necessary for you to make enquiries about this with the Community Legal Service first..) 

What forms are needed?


An appeal is made by filling in form NG, giving the reasons why  the conviction or sentence was wrong (i.e. giving the grounds of appeal) and then sending that to the Crown Court where the conviction took place.   The Crown Court will then copy all the documents used at the trial and send them, with form NG, to the Criminal Appeal Office, which provides administrative support to the Court of Appeal.

 

Where can I get the forms from?


You can get form NG (Notice and Grounds of appeal), form B (asking for bail) and form W (asking for a witness to attend court) from any Crown Court; or from the Prison Legal Aid or Personnel Officer. 

 

What are the time limits for sending in my appeal?



Form NG should be sent to the Crown Court or, if you are in custody, handed to a Prison Officer, within 28 days from the date of your conviction (for appeals against conviction).

If you  go outside those time limits, you need to ask for an extension of time (i.e. permission to send the form in late).  You need to send in form NG containing your grounds of appeal and also the reasons why you were late in sending the form in.   The Court cannot accept reasons for an extension of time on their own without the grounds of appeal (Rule 2 of the Criminal Appeal Rules 1968).

 

How long will my appeal take?

 


There are a number of different factors which affect the time an appeal will take but the Court has targets to meet which at present are: 

The appeal process is in two general stages:

the first stage is getting the papers to a judge (the Single Judge) so s/he can decide, from looking at the papers, whether to grant leave (permission) to appeal . The Court aim to try to send straightforward conviction cases to their General Office within 3 to 4 months of receipt.   The General Office is responsible for sending papers to judges and its staff try to send  papers to a judge within a few days of receipt.   However, at various times (particularly Christmas, Easter and in August and September) there is limited availability of judges.  This means there is sometimes delay in the General Office sending the papers to a judge.   

the second stage is preparing the case for a hearing in court.

What factors can affect the time my appeal takes?

 

The Appeals process – Stage by Stage.


When Form NG is received by the Court, they  give the case a reference number and send confirmation that the appeal has been received.   Tthe case details are put onto a database and a file is made up.  The file is usually sent within 2 days to one of the

 casework sections (called sections A, B, C or D).

 

The casework section will make sure they have all the papers the judge will need in order to make a decision whether or not to give leave to appeal.   This may take some time.  They may need to get further papers from the Crown Court or from solicitors or barrister.   They will also have to get a typed-up record (transcript) of what happened at the relevant time at the Crown Court.  They may have to send a copy of the transcript to your barrister for him / her to perfect the grounds of appeal by referring to the transcript. The casework group will send the papers to the General Office, which deals with allocation of all papers to judges. 

 

Once the judge has made a decision, the papers are returned to the General Office and from there to the casework section.  The judge may grant or refuse leave to appeal or, sometimes but not often, may refer the case to the Full Court of Appeal without having made a decision either way.

 


If the judge grants leave to appeal or the case is being referred to the Full Court of Appeal, the casework section will usually produce a Representation Order giving  public funding for a barrister to represent the appellant.  They will send a copy to the Appellant and to his/her barrister.

A case summary will then be written (usually by a member of Criminal Appeal Office administrative or legal staff) to assist the judges at the full hearing of the appeal.  If the case is very complex it can take some time to complete the summary.  A copy of the case summary will be sent to the barrister or to the appellant if unrepresented. Once the summary has been written all the papers will be copied for the judges and the case details sent to our List Office for them to set a hearing date.


If leave is refused, a copy of the judge's decision will be sent to the appellant who will need to sign and hand the form to a prison officer or return it to the Court within 14 days of receipt if he/she wants to renew the application (i.e. if you disagree with the Single Judge's decision and want the Full Court of Appeal to consider your case).  

There is no public funding for a barrister to represent an appellant if the application is being renewed.  The Appellant may be able to find a barrister who will represent for free (pro bono) o rhe/she will need to pay a barrister privately.. If the appellant is in prison, there is no right to be present at the hearing of a renewed application.

At the renewed hearing if leave to appeal is granted,  a case summary will be written and the papers copied before the case details are sent to the List Office for them to set a hearing date. 


The List Office will contact the barrister if the appellant is being represented at the hearing.  They will try to set a hearing date as quickly as possible and, subject to this, will try to set a date which is convenient for the barrister.

A letter will be sent to the appellant telling the  the date that has been set.  If the appellant is in prison and has been granted leave to appeal, he/she will have the right to be brought to court to listen to the appeal.   However, if the appellant does not  want to attend, he/she can sign a paper saying this..


The hearing  will usually be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London in a court room open to the public.  There will usually be 3 judges to decide the appeal. 

If the Single Judge refused leave to appeal and the Full Court confirms this, the appeal is at an end.  

If the Single Judge refused leave to appeal but the Full Court granted leave, they will usually grant  public funding for a barrister  and will ask for another hearing date to be set.   

After the hearing  a copy of the judges order will be sent to the appellantu.   A typed up record of what the judges said when making the decision and their reasons (the judgment) is usually received in Criminal Appeal Office within 6 weeks of the date of the hearing.  

If the Full Court has dismissed the appeal or refused leave to appeal, the appeal is at an end

If the conviction is quashed the appellant could either be freed by the Court, or a re-trial could be ordered. If a re-trial is ordered and the appellant was on bail before the original trial, the Court can reease the Appellant on Bail pending the re-trial.