You can appeal a criminal decision in the Court of Appeal if the appeal is:
- By a person who has been convicted and sentenced in the Supreme Court, County Court or Magistrates' Court constituted by the Chief Magistrate, and they want to appeal against the conviction, sentence or both. In most cases you need the Court’s permission to have these appeals heard. This is called leave to appeal.
- By the Director of Public Prosecutions against a sentence imposed in the Supreme Court, County Court or Magistrates' Court constituted by the Chief Magistrate. These are also called Crown appeals. They do not need leave to appeal.
- By any party against some interlocutory decisions made by a trial judge during a criminal proceeding in the Supreme Court or County Court. These all need leave to appeal. You must have first made an application to the trial judge for them to certify the interlocutory appeal.
If an appeal against a sentence is allowed, the Court of Appeal may reduce or increase the sentence.
The information below relates to appeals from the Supreme and County Court. The requirements for an appeal from the Magistrates' Court constituted by the Chief Magistrate may be different.
There are time limits on starting an appeal in the Court of Appeal.
For an appeal against a conviction or sentence, you have 28 days from the date of the sentence to start your appeal.
For an interlocutory appeal, different time limits apply depending on the stage of the proceeding and whether or not the trial judge has certified the interlocutory appeal. The time limits are in sections 296(2) and 298(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009.
Extension of time
If you are applying outside the time limit you must apply for an extension of time.
In addition to the application for leave to appeal and other documents identified below, you must file:
- Form 6-2H Notice of application for extension of time to file (this must include the grounds on which the extension application is made).
- Affidavit stating the reasons for filing late.
After the Court registry accepts your documents for filing, the Registrar of the Court of Appeal will serve them on the respondent.
Practice Notes sit alongside the Supreme Court (Criminal Procedure) Rules 2017 (especially Orders 2 and 3), and the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (especially Parts 6.3 and 6.4), to guide the conduct of proceedings in the Court of Appeal.
Practice notes
No previous appeal against conviction
To apply for leave to appeal against your conviction (if you have not previously appealed against your conviction to the Court of Appeal), you file:
- Form 6-2A Notice of application for leave to appeal against conviction (this must include the grounds of appeal).
- Written case of no more than 10 pages.
- List of authorities and materials relied on to support the appeal (see Annexure 3 of Practice Note SC CA 1 Criminal Appeals (Third Revision)).
- A schedule of relevant evidence and transcript references if one of your grounds of appeal is that the conviction is unreasonable or cannot be supported having regard to the evidence (see Annexure 1 of Practice Note SC CA 1 Criminal Appeals (Third Revision) for an example).
These documents must be filed no later than 28 days after the sentence date. If 28 days has already passed, you must apply for an extension of time - see the Extension of Time information within the Time Limits section on this page.
After the Court registry accepts your documents for filing, the Registrar of the Court of Appeal will serve them on the respondent.
Second or subsequent appeal
If you have previously appealed against your conviction to the Court of Appeal, you may be able to make a further appeal if you have fresh and compelling evidence that should, in the interests of justice, be considered on an appeal. Section 326C of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 specifies when evidence is ‘fresh’ and ‘compelling’. To apply for leave to appeal you file:
- Form 6-2A Notice of application for leave to appeal against conviction (this must include the grounds of appeal).
- Written case of no more than 10 pages.
- Affidavit setting out the evidence said to be fresh and compelling.
- List of authorities and materials relied on to support the appeal (see Annexure 3 of Practice Note SC CA 1 Criminal Appeals (Third revision)).
After the Court registry accepts your documents for filing, the Registrar of the Court of Appeal will serve them on the respondent.
More information:
To apply for leave to appeal against your sentence, you file:
- Form 6-2B Notice of application for leave to appeal against sentence (this must include the grounds of appeal).
- Written case of no more than 10 pages.
- List of authorities and materials relied on to support the appeal (see Annexure 3 of Practice Note SC CA 1 Criminal Appeals (Third revision)).
These documents must be filed no later than 28 days after the sentence date. If 28 days has already passed, you must apply for an extension of time - see the Extension of Time information within the Time Limits section on this page.
After the Court registry accepts your documents for filing, the Registrar of the Court of Appeal will serve them on the respondent.
For the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to start an appeal, the Director must file:
- Notice of appeal (including the grounds of appeal).
- Written case of no more than 10 pages.
- List of authorities and materials relied on to support the appeal (see Annexure 3 of Practice Note SC CA 1 Criminal Appeals (Third revision)).
These documents must be filed no later than 28 days after the sentence date. If 28 days has already passed, you must apply for an extension of time - see the Extension of Time information within the Time Limits section on this page.
After the Court registry accepts the documents for filing, the Crown must serve them on the respondent.
Before applying for leave to appeal against an interlocutory decision made by a trial judge, you must have first applied to that judge for them to certify the interlocutory appeal. This means asking the trial judge to approve the interlocutory appeal as being appropriate in accordance with section 295(3) of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009.
If the trial judge has certified the interlocutory appeal, to apply to the Court of Appeal you file:
- Form 6-3A Notice of application for leave to appeal against interlocutory decision (this must include the grounds of appeal).
If the trial judge has refused to certify the interlocutory appeal, to apply to the Court of Appeal you file:
- Form 6-3A Notice of application for leave to appeal against interlocutory decision (this must include the grounds of appeal).
- Form 6-3B Notice of application for review of refusal to certify (this must include the grounds of the application for review).
There are different time limits for filing these documents. The time limits depend on the stage of the proceeding and whether or not the trial judge has certified the interlocutory appeal. Time limits are in sections 296(2) and 298(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009. If the time limit has already passed, you must apply for an extension of time - see the Extension of Time information within the Time Limits section on this page.
After the Court registry accepts your documents for filing, you must serve them on the respondent.
More information: