Right of appeal in criminal cases
157 Right of appeal in criminal cases
Appeals lie to the Court of Appeal as follows:
if a person is convicted on information—
the convicted person may appeal against the conviction as of right on any ground that involves a question of law alone;
the convicted person may appeal against the conviction on any other ground with the permission of the Court of Appeal or on the certificate of the court of trial that it is a fit case for appeal;
subject to subsection (2), the convicted person or the Director of Public Prosecutions may appeal against sentence passed on the conviction (other than a sentence fixed by law), or a decision of the court to defer sentencing the convicted person, on any ground with the permission of the Court of Appeal;
if a person is tried on information and acquitted, the Director of
Public Prosecutions may, with the permission of the Court of Appeal, appeal against the acquittal on any ground—
if the trial was by judge alone; or
if the trial was by jury and the judge directed the jury to acquit the person;
if a court makes a decision on an issue antecedent to trial that is adverse to the prosecution, the Director of Public Prosecutions may appeal against the decision—
as of right, on any ground that involves a question of law alone; or
on any other ground with the permission of the Court of Appeal;
if a court makes a decision on an issue antecedent to trial that is adverse to the defendant—
the defendant may appeal against the decision before the commencement or completion of the trial with the permission of the court of trial (but permission will only be granted if it appears to the court that there are special reasons why it would be in the interests of the administration of justice to have the appeal determined before commencement or completion of the trial);
the defendant may, if convicted, appeal against the conviction under paragraph (a) asserting as a ground of appeal that the decision was wrong;
subject to subsection (3), the Director of Public Prosecutions may, with the permission of the
Full Court, appeal against an interlocutory judgment.
If a convicted person is granted permission to appeal under subsection (1)(a)(iii), the Director of Public Prosecutions may appeal under that subparagraph without the need to obtain the permission of the Court of Appeal.
The
Full Court may only grant permission for an appeal under subsection (1)(e) if satisfied that—
the interlocutory judgment destroys or substantially weakens the prosecution case in respect of any charge and, if correct, is likely to lead to abandonment of that charge; or
it is otherwise in the interests of justice to do so.
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