Criminal Law Appeals Alberta

No, an appeal is not a new trial. It is not an opportunity to present your defence a second time in order to obtain a different result. An appeal grants you the opportunity to go to a higher court and argue that the judge made an error or unreasonable decision.

If the application of appeal is accepted and reviewed by the appeals court, there are several possible outcomes. The best possible outcome is an acquittal in which you are deemed not guilty of the crime.

In some cases, a new trial may be ordered if the reviewing court determines that the first trial was not conducted properly. If this happens, your case is sent back to the courts and retried.

An appeal may result in your sentence being varied, meaning that you may receive a new sentence that is more or less severe.

Lastly, your appeal can be dismissed if the appeal court finds that the judge’s decision was reasonable.

Not every case has an automatic right of appeal but, in the case of criminal proceedings, you have a right to appeal to the Court of Appeal in respect to indictable offences. When it comes to summary conviction offences, these appeals are first heard by the Superior Court of Justice.

There is a time limit when it comes to appealing but this varies from case to case.It’s important to understand the statutes or regulations that apply to your case.

If you miss the deadline for filing your appeal, you can bring a motion to request an extension. This includes filing an affidavit that explains why your appeal was not filed during the required appeal period.

A judge will hear the motion and decide whether or not to grant you an extension.