This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Criminal Appeals Statistics 2002
30/10/2003
Figures released today show that a total of just under
2,500 criminal appeals were concluded in 2002, a decrease
of 31 per cent compared with the previous year and the
lowest total recorded in the last decade.
Other main findings include:
* Appeals involving High Court cases were the only
category to show an increase up 15 per cent to 452.
* The average duration of completed appeals increased
substantially between 2001 and 2002, rising by 50 per cent
to 122 days. This increase largely reflected the priority
given by the High Court in 2002 towards dealing with solemn
conviction and long standing appeals; diverting time to the
most serious appeals delayed other categories of
appeal.
* Appeals against conviction generally took much longer
to complete than appeals against sentence only 357 days vs
119 days for solemn appeals and 317 days vs 58 days for
summary appeals.
* 72 per cent of appeals involved cases where a
custodial sentence had been imposed.
* 42 per cent of solemn appeals and 35 per cent of
summary appeals survived the preliminary sift process.
* Of the total number of appeals completed in 2002, 63
per cent were refused at the sift stage or abandoned, 18
per cent were dismissed, 3 per cent resulted in the
quashing of the original conviction and 15 per cent in a
reduction in the original sentence. A small number of
appeals resulted in an increase in the original sentence
imposed.