As criminal lawyers the most common cases that we appear before the High Court in are appeals from the Court of Appeal (criminal division).
The High Court has wide ranging jurisdiction in relation to a number of areas such as cases which involve interpretation of the Constitution, or where the Court is asked to change one of its previous decisions, or where the Court considers the principle of law involved to be one of major public importance.
An appeal in a criminal matter from the Court of Appeal has to go through the process of a special leave application.
This is a process where there is a hearing before the High Court (generally limited to 20 minutes) to decide whether they decide your case to be worth hearing or not.
Their decision is final and there is no further appeal process.
