Appeals

An individual is in prison because he or she has been found guilty in a court of law of a criminal offence. Invariably, the issue of whether that conviction was correct or lawful can arise for some prisoners.

An individual who has been found guilty in the Crown Court can appeal to the Court of Appeal against his conviction or his sentence.

The information provided below is merely an overview of the grounds upon which an application to appeal may be made. A very comprehensive guide to appeals and the procedure can be found here: http://www.justice.org.uk/data/files/resources/274/How-to-Appeal-2011.pdf

Appeals against conviction

The test for appeal against conviction is whether or not the conviction is safe. The following could render a conviction "unsafe".

• The judge's decisions during the trial: throughout a trial, the judge makes decisions on issues such as admissibility of evidence. If the judge acted unreasonably in his rulings, you may have a ground of appeal. It should be noted that judges have a lot of freedom in how they conduct the trial, therefore the threshold as to whether the judge was unreasonable is a very high one.
• The judge's summing up: if the judge made a mistake in his summing up of a case for the jury, there may be a ground of appeal if and only if this mistake is likely to have led the jury to find the defendant guilty. Again, the threshold for this is very high.
• Objections to jury members.
• New evidence.
• Disclosure issues.
• Mistakes made by a solicitor or barrister: the mistake must have been very serious and must have caused the conviction.

Appeals against sentence

The test for appeal against sentence is whether or not the sentence is excessive.

If a prisoner believes that his conviction is unsafe or the sentence he was given was excessive, he should seek legal advice from a solicitor.