Completed criminal appeals down

Concluded criminal appeals have fallen to the lowest figure in a decade

News, 31 January 2005

The number of criminal appeals completed in 2003 fell to the lowest total recorded in the last decade, according to official statistics just released.

Of the 2,100 concluded appeals, a 14 per cent drop on the previous year, 21 per cent were successful, 58 per cent refused or abandoned at the sift stage and 21 per cent dismissed.

While the average duration of completed appeals increased by 23 per cent to 151 days, the time taken to conclude solemn appeals decreased by 31 per cent to 245 days. Summary appeals against conviction took an average of 330 days.

This reflects the high priority given to dealing with solemn conviction and longstanding appeals; diverting time to the most serious appeals delayed other categories of appeal.

Appeals against sentence only were dealt with more quickly: an average of 143 days for solemn cases and 100 days for summary.