The Criminal Appeal: How to Appeal an Unjust Judgment
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listIn this article
lightbulbKey Takeaways
- check_circleDeadlines of 5-10 days
- check_circleThey cannot worsen the sentence
- check_circleReview of the judge's errors
- check_circleNullity of the trial
A conviction (or an acquittal, if you are the victim) is not always the end. The legal system allows a higher court to review what the first-instance judge has decided. That is the appeal. Our criminal lawyers in Madrid can help you with this type of situation.
Deadlines to Appeal
Beware — they are very short!
- Fast-track trial judgments: 5 days.
- Abbreviated proceedings judgments: 10 days.
- Rulings (decisions during the process): 3 to 5 days.
If the deadline passes, the judgment becomes "final" and there is nothing more to be done.
Why Can a Judgment Be Appealed?
It is not enough to say "I disagree". You must put forward specific grounds:
- Error in the assessment of the evidence: the judge ignored a key witness or misinterpreted a document. (Hard to win, because the higher court did not see the trial live.)
- Infringement of the law: the judge misapplied the Criminal Code (e.g. did not apply a mitigating factor that was warranted).
- Procedural breach / breach of safeguards: you were not allowed to propose evidence, the trial was not recorded, the judge was not impartial. This can lead to the nullity of the trial (so that it is repeated).
Who Decides?
If you were tried by a Criminal Court, the Provincial Court decides. If you were tried by the Provincial Court, the High Court of Justice decides.
Risk
If only you (the convicted person) appeal, the higher court CANNOT make your sentence worse ("reformatio in peius"). Either you stay the same, or you improve. That is why it is almost always worth appealing.
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