Appeals from the NSW Local Courts to the NSW District Courts are pursuant to Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001. A person convicted or sentenced in the NSW Local Court has a right of appeal to NSW District Court. Such an appeal must be filed within 28 days or 3 months with leave of the District Court.
District Court’s approach to Conviction Appeals
According to Blacktown Criminal Lawyers, a conviction appeal to the District Court is not a new (de novo) hearing but a rehearing on the certified transcripts of the evidence and exhibits tendered in the Local Court. A District Court conviction appeal is not an opportunity for the appellant to rerun their case in a different manner.
A conviction appeal to the District Court requires the demonstration of a factual, legal or discretionary error to succeed. The term “error” refers broadly to the satisfaction of the appellate Judge that the Magistrate at the Local Court was wrong and should be corrected. Criminal Lawyers Blacktown opine that how that state of satisfaction is achieved by the Judge may depend on a range of factors including:
- 1. acting on a wrong principle,
- 2. flawed reasoning,
- 3. failure to give adequate reasons,
- 4. misapplication of the law,
- 5. mistaking the facts,
- 6. consideration and application of irrelevant matters.
A miscarriage of justice warranting intervention by the District Court may also occur in the absence of “error”.
According to Blacktown Criminal Lawyers, the requirement that the appellant show error does not reverse the onus of proof. At all material times, the prosecution bears the onus on establishing guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
It should be noted that a conviction appeal does not require the District Court to undertake a complete review of the whole of the evidence and form its own view as to the appellant’s guilt regardless of the issues raised by the appellant. The extent of the review will depend on the circumstances of the case and the kind of error alleged by the appellant.
Determination of Conviction Appeals
The District Court may dispose of an appeal against conviction by setting aside the conviction or dismissing the appeal. On a conviction appeal the District Court has no power to remit the matter to the Local Court for redetermination.
Recent published cases
Hood-Carberry v R
The case involved an appeal against convictions for resisting and assaulting a police officer. Jacob Hood-Carberry was convicted in the NSW Local Court based on an incident where he failed to comply with police instructions. The appeal focused on whether the arresting Police officer was acting within his lawful powers under the Bail Act 2013 and Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002. The District Court found that the police officer had not clearly communicated the arrest or exercised lawful authority during the incident, leading to the convictions being set aside.
R v WC [2024]
This case involved an appeal against convictions for reckless wounding and affray. The case at the Local Court and on appeal centred around self defence specifically whether the conduct of the appellant in grabbing hold of a knife and then with the knife hitting the complainant three times which had the effect of stabbing him has been shown by the Crown in all the circumstances of the case to not be a reasonable response in the circumstances as the appellant perceived them.
The appellant contended the Magistrate failed to take into account relevant considerations; that the magistrate has then taken into account irrelevant considerations; has made inconsistent findings of fact; and should have found self-defence was not negated by the prosecution.
After considering the evidence adduced in the NSW Local Court, the Judge was not satisfied that the appellant’s behaviour in stabbing the complainant, notwithstanding that the appellant was being pummelled by the complainant, was reasonable in the circumstances thus self defence was not made out and the findings of the Magistrate were affirmed, and the appeal was dismissed.
If you have a criminal matter, speak to our Criminal Lawyers Blacktown by contacting AMA Legal on (02) 8610 3764 for a confidential consultation.