• What is an “appeal”? • Legal frame work for criminal appeals • What is the purpose of an appeal in law? • Grounds for allowing an appeal . • Hierarchy of appellate courts. • Commencement of an appeal. • The memorandum of appeal. • Formulating grounds. • Tips on presentation of an appeal. • Prayers. • Appeal out of time • Bail pending appeal • Court documents in criminal appeals. • Dpp prosecution policy in appeals • Second Appeals by Dpp • Third Appeals by Dpp • Principles governing ist second and Third Appeals. • There are four Directorates in Odpp, one of them is the the Directorate of Proseutions under which the Department of appeals and misc applications falls. • Department of appeals has three full time lawyers ie Principal assistant Dpp, Assistant Dpp and one Chief state attorney. • They periodically borrow man pwer from other departments. • Appeals before Chief magistrates are conducted by RSAs. • Appeals before High Court are conducted by or under supervision of Dpp regional officers. • Appeals in the CA and the SC are conducted by senior lawyers at head office under the supervision of the head of dept. • The office of the Dpp can initiate appeals on its own motion or at the instance of the complainant, the victims of crime or any other stake holder – if the Odpp finds merit in the intended appeal. • For this reason the practice in O/dpp especially in trials in courts of judicature is to file a NOTICE of appeal – where the court acquits in the event that an appeal will be preferred • The constitution • The Judicature Act • The Trial on Indictments Act • The Criminal Procedure Code Act • The Magistrates Courts Act • The Supreme Court Rules • The Court of Appeal Rules • It is a judicial proceeding undertaken to have a decision of a lower court placed; • Before a higher court; • To review the decision of a lower court; • Where that party considers that the lower court came to a wrong decision; • On the evidence or • On the law. • To enable the higher court to correct the mistakes of the lower court; • To reverse the decision of the lower court which decision the appellant perceives to have caused a miscarriage of justice; • To redress the penalty, injury or loss which the aggrieved party is likely to suffer if the decision of the lower court is allowed to stand. • Some appeals are brought solely for the purposes of getting a declaration or restatement of the law by the higher court. This is so for instance in the case of second appeals by the state to the Supreme court where the decisions appealed against disclose matters of law of considerable public importance. • The appeal An appeal will be allowed; • If the judgement is unreasonable. • If the judgement cannot be supported having regard to the evidence; • The judgement contains a wrong decision of a point of law and such decision has in fact caused a miscarriage of justice. • On any other ground where a miscarriage of justice has been occasioned by the judgement. See S. 34 of the CPC. • A right of appeal must be expressly given by statute. • The subject matter of the appeal must be in strict accordance with the provisions of the enabling law. • There is no such a thing as an inherent right of appeal in any case. • The intended appellant must have a locus standi or capacity to file the appeal. • Points of law. • Points of fact. • Points of mixed law and fact. • Questions of law of great public importance. • Severity of sentence in first appeals only. • An appeal lies only against a final order of the court. • There is no right of appeal against interlocutory or interim orders of the court made in the course of the hearing or in respect of formal preliminary matters. • Appeals are special applications as opposed to ordinary applications eg bail or revisions or reviews. • Appeals lie from decisions of magistrates G2 and LC courts to a Chief Magistrate. • Appeals lie from decisions of magistrates G1 and chief magistrates to the High Court. • Appeals lie from decisions of the court of appeal to the Supreme court. • Appeals lie from decisions of the general court martial to the court martial appeal court (S.84 UPDF ACT –CAP 307) • Appeals lie from decisions of the court Martial Appeal court to the Court of Appeal. See Supreme Court Criminal Appeal no. 18/94, Sgt Kalemera Frank vs. Uganda.) • Appeals can be on points of substantive law or procedural law. • Some appeals can only be lodged with the leave of the trial court and some with leave of the appellate court. • Some appeals are only allowable subject to the grant of a certificate of the lower court certifying that the matter raises a question(s) of law of great public or general importance. • A criminal appeal is and can only be commenced by Notice of Appeal.(S.28 CPC).( See Christopher Kabenge VRS Uganda). The filing fees must be paid for the notice to be valid –S.29 CPC. • The limitation period u/s 28(1) CPC is 14 days of the date of the judgement appealed against. • The notice of appeal must be followed by a memorandum of appeal- to be filed within 14 days of receipt of the record of appeal (proceedings and judgement of the lower court.). A supplementary memorandum can be filed with leave of court. ü Should be concise, ü Should be distinct in content, ü Should not be argumentative in nature, ü Should not be narrative; ü Should bear an intelligible relevance to the recorded evidence. • Peruse and thoroughly scrutinise and internalise the record of appeal. • High light salient stand points and passages which you intend to rely on in support of your case. • In particular be on the look out for specifics of the record that support your complaints against the lower court’s verdict.