Criminal Procedure Act 2011

Appeals - Appeals on question of law - First appeals

301: Deferral or adjournment of trial if notice of application for leave to appeal filed

You could also call this:

"What happens to your trial if you want to appeal before or during the trial"

Illustration for Criminal Procedure Act 2011

If you are waiting for a trial to start and you want to appeal, you can file a notice of application for leave to appeal. If you do this before the trial, the trial cannot start until the first appeal court makes a decision about your application. The trial can start earlier if the trial court thinks it is fair to do so.

If you file a notice of application for leave to appeal during the trial, the trial court will make a decision about what to do next. If it is a jury trial, the trial will usually keep going unless the court thinks it is fair to stop the trial and send the jury home. In other cases, the trial court can choose to delay the trial until the first appeal court makes a decision about your application. The court will do this if they think the decision might make the trial unnecessary, change the outcome, make the trial shorter, or answer an important legal question.

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This page was last updated on 29 June 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3865783.

Topics:

Crime and justice > Criminal lawCrime and justice > Courts and legal help

300: First appeal court to determine appeal, or

"The first appeal court decides what happens next with your appeal."

302: How determination of appeal affects outcome of trial, or

"What happens to your trial if you appeal and how it affects the outcome."

Part 6Appeals
Appeals on question of law: First appeals

301Deferral or adjournment of trial if notice of application for leave to appeal filed

Subsection (2) applies if a notice of application for leave to appeal under this subpart is filed before the trial.
The trial must not commence before the first appeal court determines the application for leave and (if it gives leave) the question of law, unless the trial court is satisfied that it is in the interests of justice to do so and proceeds accordingly.
Subsection (4) applies if a notice of application for leave to appeal under this subpart is filed during the trial.
The trial court—
must continue with the trial if it is a jury trial, unless the court considers it in the interests of justice for the jury to be discharged:
may adjourn the trial in any other case until the first appeal court determines the application and (if it gives leave) the question of law if satisfied that the determination of the question of law may—
1. make the trial unnecessary; or
2. have a substantial impact on the outcome of the trial; or
3. substantially reduce the length of the trial; or
4. answer a novel question of law that is necessary for the proper conduct of the trial.