Appeals

If you are convicted in the magistrates' court you can appeal against your sentence, or conviction, or both. If the conviction is disputed, the whole trial will be heard again at the Crown Court in front of a judge and two magistrates. If only the sentence is in dispute, it will be for a Crown Court judge to consider your appeal. He or she may increase the sentence, reduce it or leave it as it is.

If your solicitor believes that the magistrates have reached the wrong decision because they misinterpreted the law, the case may be appealed to the High Court which will decide whether the magistrates were right or not. If the High Court decides they were wrong it can order the magistrates to change their verdict. This does not involve a re-trial.

If your appeal is unsuccessful you can make an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which considers cases of alleged miscarriages of justice that have been through the appeal process. They can refer the case back to the Court of Appeal if they consider it likely that a conviction or sentence would not be upheld. This only occurs in a very small number of cases.

Your solicitor can advise you on possible appeals against your sentence.

DirectGov