On this page …

• Miscarriages of Justice - Your appeal against a Crown Court conviction

• Do I have an automatic right to appeal against my Crown Court conviction?

• What happens at the appeal against conviction hearing at the Court of Appeal?

• Quashing the conviction

• How do I appeal against conviction from the Crown Court to the Court of Appeal?

• Bail pending appeal

• Can I appeal out of time?

• What grounds of appeal can be relied upon?

• Can I appeal against conviction following a plea of guilty at the Crown Court

• Can I appeal against both my conviction and sentence?

• Are there any appeal risks? The 'Loss of time' order

• Can I abandon my appeal against conviction?

• Can I get new legal representation for my appeal? Due Diligence Requirements

• Appealing to the Supreme Court

• Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC)

• European Court of Justice (ECJ)

• European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)

• Further Information (Forms, Guidance, Rules and Practice Directions)

Miscarriages of Justice - Your appeal against a Crown Court conviction

If you have been wrongfully convicted in the Crown Court, you can apply within 28 days for permission to appeal against your conviction to the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). 

If you are granted permission to appeal, the case will go to the full Court of Appeal who will overturn the conviction where it is considered to be unsafe.

An appeal against conviction can be commenced after being found guilty by a jury and, in more limited circumstances, following a guilty plea at the Crown Court.

This type of appeal is only available to the defence; the prosecution are unable to seek to overturn a finding of Not Guilty on appeal, except in some circumstances where a defendant is acquiited due to a legal ruling by the judge, or in the very limited circumstances where an acquittal has been achieved as a result of interference with or intimidation of jurors or witnesses.

This section concerns appealing against convictions in the Crown Court. If you were convicted in the magistrates' court and want to appeal, the procedure is far more straightforward. For more information, go to Appealing Against Your Magistrates’ Court Conviction >>

Do I have an automatic right to appeal against my Crown Court conviction?

There is no automatic right of appeal against a Crown Court conviction. Permission (also known as leave) is required to enable the appeal to be heard. Once permission is granted, the case will then be heard by the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division).

When you apply for permission you are known as the Applicant. Once permission is granted you become known as the Appellant. The prosecution are referred to as the Respondent.

The application for permission to appeal is initially sent by the Registrar of Criminal Appeals to be considered by a single judge. The application will be granted where the judge considers that any of the grounds of appeal relied upon are properly arguable, i.e. that there is sufficient merit in them for the case to proceed to the full court.

A Crown Court judge can also grant permission to appeal by issuing a certificate that the case is fit for appeal, but this is rare and would only happen in exceptional circumstances - usually permission is requested in a written application to a single judge as set out in the 'How do I appeal against conviction?' section below.  

It is not possible to appeal against a conviction in the Crown Court simply because you are unhappy with the verdict (even if you know that the verdict is wrong); instead, you need to show that something has gone seriously wrong with the trial process itself such that the guilty verdict should be considered to be unsafe. Similarly, if you have pleaded guilty, you need to establish that the guilty plea should not have been entered and that the conviction based on that guilty plea is itself unsafe.

Your specific arguments about what has gone wrong will be set out in your Grounds of Appeal.

If you were legally represented in the Crown Court, following your conviction you should receive advice on the merits of an appeal and can ask for that advice to be given in writing. If the advice is positive (i.e. that there are arguable grounds), then your Barrister or Solicitor-Advocate will also draft those grounds of appeal setting out the individual arguments it is intended to advance in your favour.  

If you are receiving legal aid, this work will be provided at no additional cost to you. If you are paying privately for your representation, the cost of any written advice on appeal/grounds of appeal will depend on the terms of the agreement between you.

Your Barrister or Solicitor-Advocate must make an independent decision about the merits of an appeal. Their professional duty requires that they can only advise that an application for permission to appeal is made where there are grounds which are properly arguable.

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