The deadline for filing an appeal in a criminal case is a legally established period of time during which you can appeal a court decision that has not entered into force. As soon as the allotted time has passed, the decision is considered to have entered into force. Similar terms in civil and criminal proceedings, despite the same name and purpose, have a number of significant differences, which will be discussed below.
According to the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation
To appeal the verdict of the court of first instance in criminal proceedings, 10 calendar days are allotted.
There are a number of nuances when calculating deadlines. Thus, convicts who are at large have the right to file an appeal within 10 days from the date of the decision, while those in custody - within the same period, but from the moment they receive a copy of the verdict.
The filing deadlines are set out in Article 389.4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which details the provisions of the law regarding the time frame in appeal proceedings.
Consideration of a criminal case in an appellate court
This material was prepared in accordance with the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. dated November 27, 2012 “On the application of the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation governing proceedings in the court of appeal.” If you need to receive legal assistance on issues of reviewing criminal cases in the appellate instance, you can contact the lawyers of the Law Office “Domkiny and Partners” who have professional specialization in this area of law.
The legal purpose of the existence of an appellate court in criminal proceedings is the need to increase the level of judicial protection of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of citizens and organizations in the field of criminal legal relations in society guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and other laws.
the right to appeal court decisions through the appellate procedure:
- suspect, accused, defendant, convicted, acquitted, their defender (lawyer), as well as:
- a person in respect of whom the criminal case has been terminated, - a person in respect of whom proceedings are or have been conducted for the application of a compulsory measure of a medical nature, - a person in respect of whom a decision has been made to extradite for criminal prosecution or execution of a sentence, - defenders of these persons, - legal representatives, - public prosecutor, - prosecutor, - private prosecutor, - victim, - legal representative of these persons, - civil plaintiff, - civil defendant (including their representatives), - another person, if the court decision affects his rights and legal interests.
A person who is not a lawyer, but was previously admitted to participate in the court of first instance as a defense attorney, also has the right to appeal the court decision on appeal.
It should be noted that legal representatives can appeal the court decision and have the right to take part in the court hearing, regardless of the fact that by the time the case was heard in the appellate court, the convicted/acquitted minor had turned 18 years old.
Within the meaning of Article 389.2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the following may be appealed on appeal:
- final court decisions that have not entered into legal force (sentence, ruling, court decision, by which a criminal case is resolved on the merits, or a court ruling or ruling, by which the proceedings in a criminal case against a specific person are completed),
- interim court decisions, that is, all court rulings and decisions, with the exception of final court decisions, are interim court decisions (court rulings and decisions made during pre-trial proceedings or trial, by which the criminal case is not resolved on the merits or the proceedings in relation to a specific person, as well as court decisions made in the process of executing final court decisions).
Separately, it should be noted that interim court decisions:
- affecting the constitutional rights of participants in criminal proceedings,
- violating the rights of access to justice,
- violating the rights to consider a case within a reasonable time,
- hindering the further progress of the case,
are subject to independent appeal in the appellate order before the final decision in the case is made, while the legality and validity of other interim court decisions can be verified by the appellate authority simultaneously with the verification of the final decision in the case, that is, when appealing the verdict as a whole.
The following can be appealed independently
- decision of the magistrate to return the application to the person,
- decision of the magistrate to refuse to accept the application for proceedings,
- a court ruling or ruling on the selection of a preventive measure or on the extension of its validity,
- a court order or determination to place a person in a medical or psychiatric hospital for a forensic examination,
- court ruling or ruling to suspend a criminal case,
- a court ruling or ruling on the transfer of a criminal case to jurisdiction or on changing the jurisdiction of a criminal case,
- court ruling or ruling to return the criminal case to the prosecutor,
- court decisions to impose a monetary penalty and to convert the collateral into state revenue.
The above list of court decisions is not exhaustive.
cannot be appealed independently:
- on the procedure for examining evidence,
- on the satisfaction or rejection of requests from participants in the trial,
- other court decisions made during the trial.
In addition, if a final court decision has been made in a criminal case, then interim court decisions are not subject to independent appeal through the appellate procedure. Exceptions are made by court decisions on the selection or extension of a preventive measure in the form of detention/house arrest, decisions on placing a person in a medical or psychiatric hospital, as well as other decisions not related to the resolution of the case on the merits.
The appeal is brought directly through the court that made the court decision being appealed, but must be addressed to the appellate authority.
Thus, an appeal against a sentence or other decision of a magistrate is brought to the district court in compliance with the rule of territorial jurisdiction. A complaint against a verdict or other decision of a district court, garrison military court is brought to the judicial collegium for criminal cases of the supreme court of the republic, a regional or regional court, a court of a federal city, a court of an autonomous region, a court of an autonomous district, a district (naval) military court.
Criminal lawyer
Slightly different rules are established for higher courts. Thus, against an interim decision of the supreme court of a republic, a regional or regional court, a court of a federal city, a court of an autonomous region, a court of an autonomous district, a district (naval) military court, an appeal is submitted to the judicial panel for criminal cases of the relevant court, and against a sentence or other the final decision of these courts - to the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation / Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
An appeal against the verdict / other decision of the court of first instance can be filed within ten days from the date of the court decision. For convicted persons in custody, this period is calculated from the date of delivery of a copy of the verdict. If the complaint is filed after missing the specified deadline, then it is left without consideration. The deadline for an appeal missed for a valid reason may be restored by the judge who presided over the court hearing in the criminal case or by another judge.
The requirements for the form and content of the appeal are established by Article 389.6 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. The complaint must contain:
- name of the appellate court;
- information about the person who filed the appeal, indicating his procedural status, place of residence or location;
- an indication of the contested verdict or other judicial decision;
- arguments of the person who filed the appeal, indicating the grounds established by law;
- list of materials attached to the complaint,
- signature of the person making the complaint.
The court that passed the verdict notifies the parties who took part in the consideration of the criminal case about the appeal. The parties must be notified at least 7 days before the court hearing of the place, date and time of the start of the consideration of the criminal case by the appellate court. The law allows notification of participants via SMS messages if they agree to be notified in this way and if the fact of sending and delivery of an SMS notification to the addressee is recorded.
The subject of the trial on appeal is to verify the legality of the validity and fairness of the sentence or other decision of the court of first instance.
The trial of the case by the appellate instance consists of the following stages :
- report of the presiding officer or judge,
- hearing the presentation of the party filing the appeal and the objections of the other party,
- verification of evidence in a criminal case (in this case, the parties have the right to submit additional materials to the appellate court),
- resolution of additional requests of the parties,
- judicial debates,
- making a decision by the court.
It is important to note that the court of appeal assists the parties in collecting and presenting evidence through judicial and other procedural actions provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, in particular, the court, at the request of the parties, requests certificates, characteristics, and other documents from government bodies and other authorized persons.
On appeal, on the basis of a discrepancy between the court's conclusions set out in the verdict and the actual circumstances of the case, sentences passed by the court with the participation of a jury are not reviewed. Evidence related to the factual circumstances of the charge brought is not verified by the court in this case.
Based on the capabilities of the judicial investigation, the appellate court is not limited in its authority to check the accuracy, completeness and correctness of the protocol of the court session of the court of first instance, to evaluate such a protocol as one of the evidence that does not have pre-established force and priority over other evidence, to recognize the evidence contained in it inaccuracies and errors and determine their impact (lack thereof) on the adoption of a legal and reasonable judicial decision.
The legal grounds for canceling or changing a court decision on appeal are:
- discrepancy between the court's conclusions set out in the verdict and the actual circumstances of the criminal case established by the court of first instance;
- misapplication of criminal law;
- significant violation of criminal procedure law;
- unfairness of the sentence.
Based on the results of consideration of the appeal, the court makes one of the decisions provided for in Article 389.20 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. The list of solutions provided for in this article is not exhaustive.
The appellate court can make judicial decisions on grounds that entail both improvement and deterioration of the situation of the convicted person, within the limits of the powers established by the criminal procedure law. The court has the right to change or cancel the sentence if this does not worsen the position of the convicted person in relation to the charges brought by the preliminary investigation bodies and does not violate his right to defense.
The court can worsen the situation of the convicted person only on the proposal of the prosecutor or the complaint of the victim, private prosecutor, or their representatives. The appellate court does not have the right to overturn an acquittal and pronounce a guilty verdict. By canceling an acquittal on grounds that lead to a worsening of the acquitted person’s position, the appellate court, by ruling, transfers the criminal case to a new trial.
The appellate court does not have the right to prejudge the court's conclusions about the circumstances, since when re-examining the case, the trial court is obliged to decide questions about the guilt or innocence of the defendant and the application of the criminal law, based on the assessment of the evidence in the criminal case.
Lawyer Pavel Domkin.
According to the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation
According to the rules of civil procedure, a complaint by way of appeal is filed through the judicial authority whose decision is being appealed. If the applicant sends the letter directly to a higher authority, which will consider the appeal as an appeal, then it will be forwarded to the appropriate court and only after that, in accordance with the requirements established by Article 325 of the Code of Civil Procedure, will it be sent to the supervisory authority.
The letter can be sent by registered or regular mail, delivered in person to the court office, or otherwise delivered to the trial court. The main thing is to meet the allotted deadlines, i.e. send the letter before 00.00 hours of the last day allotted for its submission.
Stages of appellate review
The procedural form of appeal proceedings involves the following sequence of actions:
- sending an appeal (submission) by an authorized person within the period prescribed by law;
- notifying interested parties about received complaints;
- referral of a criminal case by the court of first instance to a higher court;
- preparation for appeal consideration of a criminal case;
- verification at a court hearing of a court decision according to the rules of the court of first instance;
- making a final decision;
- appealing a court decision.
Valid reasons for absence
Once the appeal deadlines have expired, it is almost impossible to cancel them, as well as to file a complaint on appeal. The deadline for filing an appeal can be restored after a delay only at the written request of the person who committed the delay and if there are objective good reasons.
Valid reasons that deserve consideration when considering reinstatement include the following:
- the applicant did not receive a copy of the decision on time, and was not present in the courtroom during the consideration of the legal dispute;
- severe painful condition;
- being in a state of helplessness;
- illiteracy;
- other reasons that, according to the internal conviction of the judge, can be classified as respectful and worthy of attention. The law does not provide an exhaustive list of such reasons.
Concept of appeal
An appeal means:
- a form of appealing court decisions aimed at eliminating factual and legal errors;
- a mechanism for reviewing court decisions to verify their legality, validity and fairness;
- the stage of criminal proceedings, in which the final court decision that has not entered into force is verified;
- stage of consideration of decisions made on issues related to criminal proceedings (use of coercive measures, suppression);
- legal and procedural institution - a set of rules of procedural law governing the review of a court decision that has not entered into force.
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The order of the procedure, how to draw it up correctly
The descriptive part of the submission includes the content of the case, its analysis, and indicates the motives that lead to its change or cancellation. The effective part includes the opinion of the public prosecutor about the decision that he insists on making. It is important to clearly state your arguments, since the case is considered only on the basis of the arguments presented.
After drawing up the document, it is signed by the person who compiled it, or by the person who has the right to do so. The act is signed by the prosecutor. If payment of a fee is required, therefore, a receipt must be attached to the requirement. After filing an appeal, the public prosecutor has every right to familiarize himself with the demands of other persons and to submit written objections to them.
