Increased Demands on Criminal Appeal Court
The Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) heard more appeals against convictions and sentences last year than in previous years according to the Court’s annual report published today (Thursday 16 December).
In the legal year October 2009 – September 2010 the Court heard 488 full conviction appeals (compared with 431 the previous year) and 2,136 full sentence appeals (compared with 1,891 the previous year). In addition it dealt with 1,114 applications for leave to appeal conviction (compared with 1,336 the previous year) and 4,110 applications for leave to appeal sentence (compared with 4,737 the previous year).
On average (taken over a three year period) 12% of conviction applications and 28% of sentence applications received are successful.
Statistics published in the report show:
- A five per cent increase in the number of applications compared with the previous year (7,133 in 2009/10 compared with 6,769 in 2008/09). The majority of the increase is due to the increase in the number of applications to appeal sentence.
- The Court received 5,653 applications to appeal sentences (compared with 5,314 in 2008/09) and 1,480 applications to appeal convictions (compared with 1,455 in 2008/09).
- The average time of cases disposed of by the Court over the previous 12 months was 10.1 months for conviction cases where leave to appeal was granted or the case referred to the full Court (compared with 9.4 months in 2008/9) and 5 months for sentence cases (compared with 4.3 months in 2008/9).
The Court has continued to make use of advances in technology to improve the efficiency of its work and reduce costs, especially the use of video-link facilities. Since the implementation of section 110, Coroners and Justice Act 2009, the Court has seen an increased use of video-linked hearings (128 to various locations including 35 prisons) to enable appellants and witnesses to give evidence without having to come to the Royal Courts of Justice. On one occasion the Court received evidence from a witness from their home as they had significant health problems and could not attend Court.
The Court has also used Skype as an alternative to the conventional form of video-link.
An important role of the Court is to provide guidance to the lower courts on issues arising from new legislation. The report highlights a number of significant judgments that do this:
- R v Barker – this gave the Court the opportunity to analyse the principles which applied to young children giving evidence in criminal proceedings.
- R v AM, Kika and Siddique – this judgment enabled the Court to consider sentencing for murder where the fatal injury was inflicted by a knife.
- R v Appleby and others – this judgment increased the sentences in five cases of ‘one-punch manslaughter’ and set guidance for future cases.
- R v Thompson and others – this judgment enabled the Court to give guidance as to some of the issues which may arise when jury irregularity is alleged.
- A number of cases relating to the admissibility of hearsay and bad character evidence.
The Court has continued to utilise its powers to sit as a five-judge court in appropriate cases.
Writing in the report’s foreword, Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, praised the work of the Court’s staff and acknowledged the unrelenting pressures on them and the judiciary.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
1.The Court of Appeal’s (Criminal Division) Review of the Legal Year 2009/10 is available online at: http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/media/media-releases/2010/jco-news-release-coa-crim-div-review-legal-yr 2.For further information please contact the Judicial Communications Office on 020 7073 4852, or press.enquiries@judiciary.gsi.gov.uk
