The Local Court is the busiest Court
Jurisdiction in all of NSW as the Local Court hears thousands of cases per
year. But ‘Appeals’ are just as important in the Criminal Justice System.
An Appeal in the simplest of terms is
applying to a higher court and asking the higher court to reconsider the
decision which was made in a lower court. People tend to explore avenues of
appeal to sometimes seek overturning a finding of guilt/ or ‘Quash’ a
conviction or because there was an error of law by the original decision maker
or even because they are seeking a more lenient sentence. (This is with respect
to Criminal Law matters).
There are many types of Appeal in NSW
but for the purpose of this article, we will limit it to the following types of
appeals:
1.
Appeal against a Sentence imposed in
the Local Court to the District Court NSW.
2.
Appeal against Conviction imposed in
the Local Court to the District Court NSW.
3.
Appeal against Conviction after a
District Court Trial to the Court of Criminal Appeal
4.
Appeal against the severity of
Sentence Imposed in the District Court NSW to the Court of Criminal Appeal.
It should be noted that the above
list is not exhaustive and there are many other types of appeals.
1.
Local Court NSW
The Local Court is the busiest Court
Jurisdiction in all of NSW. The Local Court is where all Criminal Law matters commence
however, not all those criminal law matters are finalised in the Local Court. In
the Local Court Jurisdiction, the Local Court hears summary matters which
include but not limited to drink driving, drug driving, assaults any many more
summary offences (to name a few).
Local Court matters are heard by a
magistrate and there is no jury in the Local Court NSW.
2.
District Court NSW
The District Court is also known as
the intermediate court in the state of NSW. Indictable offences are heard under
this Court’s Jurisdiction (Excluding cases such as Murder, Manslaughter,
Treason as those types of cases are heard in the
Supreme Court NSW) etc.
Matters which come before the
District Court are heard before a District Court Judge. Trial matters which are
heard before the District Court can be done by way of Judge alone trial (where
the Judge ultimately decides the verdict of the matter at the conclusion of the
proceedings) or they can be done by way of Jury, where the jury is the decides
the verdict.
The District Court jurisdiction hears
many appeals from the Local Court. Appeals are heard by a (Single) District
Court Judge only. District Court appeals which come from the Local Court
usually consist of:
·
Severity appeal– Appealing against the severity of a sentence imposed in the Local
Court
·
Conviction Appeal– Appealing the verdict imposed in the Local Court.
·
All Grounds Appeal– Appealing both the Verdict & Sentence imposed in the Local
Court.
·
The Supreme Court,
Court of Appeal & The Court of Criminal Appeal.
The Highest Court in the state of NSW
is the Supreme Court. The most serious criminal law matters are heard in the
Supreme Court, and this includes, manslaughter, murder, treason, Piracy, and
many more serious offences.
The Supreme Court also hears trials
before a Judge alone or Trials before a Jury in cases where the accused has
pleaded not guilty.
Supreme Court in some instances hears
appeals directly from the Local Court, this is only in matters where there was
an ‘error of law’ by the Local Court Magistrate.
The Supreme Court also has two
appellate Courts which are the Court of Appeal as well as the Court of Criminal
Appeal.
The Court of Appeal hears matters
which are civil in nature and not criminal law related.
The Court of Criminal Appeal (for example)
hears Criminal Law matters with respect to decisions appealed from both the
District Court NSW as well as the Supreme Court NSW.
Let’s presume for a moment that an
appeal was made from the Local Court to the District Court & this Appeal at
the District Court was unsuccessful. In this instance you are NOT able to
appeal to the Supreme Court unless there is an ‘error of law’ by the Local
Court Magistrate, and it is very important that you seek legal advice from a
lawyer if you would like to appeal your case.
3.
The High Court of
Australia.
The High Court of Australia is the
highest Court in Australia.
When Leave
to appeal has been granted and an appeal is listed in the High Court of
Australia, then the appeal will be heard by 5 to 7 Judges of the High Court of
Australia.
Appeals to the High Court of
Australia can only be made with ‘Special Leave’ meaning the High Court must
grant you ‘Special Leave’ to appeal in this Court’s jurisdiction.
The High Court of Australia hears
matters with respect to Constitutional Law, Appeal decisions from Court of
Criminal Appeal as well as the Court of Appeal.
It is very important that you speak
with a lawyer so that you can get the appropriate legal advice which you
require prior to going to court.
Our team of experienced solicitors are
there for you and can help you answer all your questions, so be sure to contact Nicopoulos Sabbagh Lawyers.
*This article correctly reflects
the Laws of NSW as at 7th July 2022.
*Please
note that this page or any other pages on our website (including any other
social media platforms for Nicopoulos Sabbagh Lawyers) are not to be considered
as a substitute for legal advice or even other professional advice. It should
also be noted that accessing of this information from this website does not create a client-lawyer
relationship.