Do you need to appeal to the County Court from the conviction of a Magistrate?
We can help you.
Appealing to the County Court the conviction of a Magistrate is known as a County Court Conviction Appeal.
Doogue + George have extensive experience in handling County Court Conviction Appeals. If you need advice or representation in an appeal, you need advice from expert appeals lawyers.
Doogue + George have extensive experience in handling County Court Conviction Appeals. If you need advice or representation in an appeal, you need advice from expert appeals lawyers.
How a County Court conviction appeal works
An appeal from the Magistrates’ Court is initiated 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 appealed from.
If the Magistrate sentences you to an immediate term of imprisonment, it will be necessary to apply for appeal bail. This is bail pending your appeal hearing.
The Conviction Appeal is heard in the County Court as a hearing de novo. This means that it is heard again with the evidence of the witnesses being heard and them being subject to cross-examination. The Judge is not bound by anything that has occurred in the Magistrates’ Court.
It is often a good move to get an audio recording of the hearing in the Magistrates’ Court so that the Appeal lawyer can get a transcript of what was said by witnesses in that jurisdiction. This needs to be done quickly as the Court only holds the recordings for a certain period of time. Also the transcribing of the audio recording can be a fairly expensive and time consuming process.
At the end of the appeal, the County Court Judge can set aside the decision of the Magistrate and dismiss the charges and/or impose their own sentence, or they can dismiss the appeal.
If the Magistrate sentences you to an immediate term of imprisonment, it will be necessary to apply for appeal bail. This is bail pending your appeal hearing.
The Conviction Appeal is heard in the County Court as a hearing de novo. This means that it is heard again with the evidence of the witnesses being heard and them being subject to cross-examination. The Judge is not bound by anything that has occurred in the Magistrates’ Court.
It is often a good move to get an audio recording of the hearing in the Magistrates’ Court so that the Appeal lawyer can get a transcript of what was said by witnesses in that jurisdiction. This needs to be done quickly as the Court only holds the recordings for a certain period of time. Also the transcribing of the audio recording can be a fairly expensive and time consuming process.
At the end of the appeal, the County Court Judge can set aside the decision of the Magistrate and dismiss the charges and/or impose their own sentence, or they can dismiss the appeal.
