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Criminal Procedure Act 2011

Appeals - Appeals on question of law - First appeals

296: Right of appeal

You could also call this:

"When you disagree with a court decision, you can ask a higher court to check if the law was applied correctly"

Illustration for Criminal Procedure Act 2011

If you have been charged with an offence, you or the prosecutor can appeal to a court on a question of law. You must get the court's permission to do this. The question of law must be about something that happened during or after the charge was decided, such as a conviction, an acquittal, or the charge being dismissed under section 147.

The question of law cannot be about a jury verdict or something that was already decided before the trial under subpart 2. You can appeal on a question of law if you think the trial court made a mistake about the law. The appeal court will look at what happened and decide if the law was applied correctly.

You can find more information about this by looking at other laws, such as those listed in the compare section.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3360484.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpCrime and justice > Criminal law
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295: Further appeal from determination of Court of Appeal, or

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297: First appeal courts, or

"Which court hears your appeal first?"

Part 6Appeals
Appeals on question of law: First appeals

296Right of appeal

  1. This section applies if a person has been charged with an offence.

  2. The prosecutor or the defendant may, with the leave of the first appeal court, appeal under this subpart to that court on a question of law against a ruling by the trial court.

  3. The question of law in a first appeal under this subpart must arise—

  4. in proceedings that relate to or follow the determination of the charge; or
    1. in the determination of the charge (including, without limitation, a conviction, an acquittal, the dismissal of the charge under section 147, or a stay of prosecution).

      1. The question of law must not be one that—

      2. arises from a jury verdict; or
        1. arose before the trial and has already been decided under subpart 2.

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