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Appeal to County Court from Magistrates Court sentence

An appeal to the County Court from the sentence of a Magistrate is known as a Sentence Appeal.

An appeal from the Magistrates Court is started by signing Appeal papers at the Criminal Registry office of the Magistrates Court.

The appeal notice must be filed within 28 days of the hearing that is being appealed

The Sentence Appeal is heard in the County Court as hearing de novo. This means means effectively a rehearing of the case. The summary of what the Prosecution say happened is read out and submissions are made by your lawyer.

It is often a good procedure to get a cd of the hearing where the sentence was imposed so that the Appeal lawyer can listen to it to see if there was anything that was missed by the lawyer in the Magistrates Court.

On an appeal you can provide the Judge with new material so it is important to be organized and to try to get all the important information about your case to the Judge hearing the appeal.

The County Court when hearing appeals from the Magistrates Court does not like the matter being adjourned as often as would be possible in the Magistrates Court. It is important to be organized and ready to go.

At the start of the appeal the Judge will generally have  a call-over of the matters in their list to see how long they will go for and to prioritize them.

At the end of the appeal the County Court Judge can set aside the decision of the Magistrate and impose their own sentence or they can dismiss the appeal.

We are extremely experienced Appeals Lawyers. We have a huge experience in handling County Court appeals. If you need advice or representation in an appeal phone us today. Nothing beats experience in handling Appeal Cases.