Appeals Information

Sentencing & Appeals

If the jury finds the accused guilty, the judge has to decide what the sentence should be. The judge may not do this immediately. Usually, he or she will set a later date for sentencing. This is to allow probation officers, social workers, doctors, psychiatrists or the Gardaí (depending on the particular case) time to prepare a report. These reports help the judge to decide on the sentence. The reports might include a Victim Impact Statement, which will describe the effect the crime has had on the victim.

Yes. How the accused does this depends on where the original trial took place.

If the trial took place in a District Court, the accused can:

  • appeal the conviction or their sentence to the Circuit Court; and
  • have a full re-hearing of the case, which means that you would have to attend court as a witness again.

If the trial took place in the Circuit Court, the Central Criminal Court or the Special Criminal Court, the accused can appeal the sentence or the conviction to the Court of Appeal (Criminal). In this court:

  • three Appeal Court judges sit together to hear the appeal; and
  • the judges read the transcript of the original trial instead of hearing evidence all over again.

Usually, if the accused has been sent to prison, he or she must remain in prison while waiting for the case to go to the Court of Appeal (Criminal).

You can read more about conviction and sentence appeals here. 

Yes, but only if the trial took place in the Circuit, Central Criminal or Special Criminal Court. The DPP cannot appeal a sentence of the District Court.

The DPP can ask the Court of Criminal Appeal to review a sentence which she thinks is ‘unduly lenient’. The Appeal Court will not increase a sentence just because it thinks the sentence is on the light side. They will only increase the sentence if they think the trial judge was wrong in law in giving such a light sentence. The DPP must ask for a review within 28 days of the judge handing down the sentence. In some cases, the DPP can apply for more time to ask for a review but not more than 56 days.

You can read more about undue leniency appeals here. 

By law, you can ask the DPP to appeal a sentence if you are:

  • a victim of a crime;
  • a family member of a victim of a crime;
  • a doctor, lawyer or social worker representing a client.

The judges will read the written record of the trial to see the trial judge’s reasons for giving a particular sentence. They will consider a sentence ‘unduly lenient’ only if they believe the trial judge made a mistake on a legal point.

Appeal court judges will not change a sentence just because they think the sentence was too light or because they would have given a different sentence. As a result, an appeal will only be possible in a small number of cases.

Appeal Types

The information below gives an overview of the various types of appeals and what to expect at those appeal hearings.

If you are a victim or witness, you may also wish to visit our page containing more Information for the Public, where you will find versions of the appeals information below in a format that can be easily downloaded.

What does a conviction appeal mean?

  • It means that the convicted person in your case has lodged an appeal against his/her conviction. They are saying that the original court made an error in law at the trial.
  • The Appeals Section in the Office of the DPP will be dealing with this case.
  • Even though a convicted person who is in prison can apply for bail while waiting for the appeal, bail is rarely granted. If bail is granted, it is only in exceptional circumstances.
  • When all of the paperwork is completed by the convicted person’s legal team, they can apply for a hearing date.
  • The Appeal Court judges will read the written record (the transcripts) of all the evidence from the original trial, so that they can understand what exactly happened.

What to expect at the court hearing

  • There is no need for you to attend the appeal hearing, but you can attend if you want to.
  • The investigating Garda will keep you informed about the appeal.
  • The investigating Garda can arrange a meeting with the prosecuting counsel and solicitor before the appeal hearing if you so wish.
  • The appeal will be heard by three judges sitting in the Court of Appeal (Criminal) which usually sits in the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin.
  • On the hearing date the three judges will hear legal submissions from both the prosecution and the defence teams.
  • It is extremely rare that any witnesses will be called to give evidence at this hearing.
  • If the judges need more time to consider the case, they will reconvene on another date to give their decision.
  • If the judges believe the original trial did not contain an error in law, the original conviction will remain in place.
  • A conviction will only be overturned if they decide there was an error in the law at the original trial.
  • If a conviction is overturned, a re-trial may be ordered.

Who to contact if you have further queries

  • If you have any further queries, please contact the investigating Garda who will pass any queries on to the Office of the DPP.

What does a sentence appeal mean?

  • A sentence appeal means that the convicted person in your case has lodged an appeal against his/her sentence. They are saying that the original sentence was too severe.
  • The Appeals Section in the Office of the DPP will be dealing with this case.
  • Even though a convicted person who is in prison can apply for bail while waiting for the appeal, bail is rarely granted. If bail is granted, it is only in exceptional circumstances.
  • When all of the paperwork is completed by the convicted person’s legal team, they can apply for a hearing date.
  • The Appeal Court judges will read the written record (the transcripts) of all the evidence from the original court, so that they can understand what happened at the trial.

What to expect at the court hearing

  • There is no need for you to attend the appeal hearing, but you can attend if you want to.
  • The investigating Garda will keep you informed about the appeal.
  • The investigating Garda can arrange a meeting with the prosecuting counsel and solicitor before the appeal hearing if you so wish.
  • The appeal will be heard by three judges sitting in the Court of Appeal (Criminal) which usually sits in the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin.
  • On the hearing date the three judges will hear legal submissions from both the prosecution and the defence teams.
  • It is extremely rare that any witnesses will be called to give evidence at this hearing.
  • If the judges need more time to consider the case, they will reconvene on another date to give their decision.
  • The judges may decide the original sentence was correct and so they will not make any change to the sentence.
  • On the other hand, the judges may decide that the original sentence was not correct and so they may decrease or adjust the sentence.

Who to contact if you have further queries

  • If you have any further queries, please contact the investigating Garda who will pass any queries on to the Office of the DPP.

What does an undue leniency appeal mean?

  • An undue leniency appeal is when the DPP believes that the sentence the convicted person received in your case is unduly lenient and has lodged an appeal.
  • The Appeals Section in the Office of the DPP will deal with the undue leniency appeal.
  • Even though a convicted person who is in prison can apply for bail while waiting for the appeal, bail is rarely granted. If bail is granted, it is only in exceptional circumstances.
  • A hearing date will be set when all the paperwork is completed by our Office.
  • The Appeal Court judges will read the written record (the transcripts) from the original trial, including any Victim Impact Statements you made, to understand the trial judge’s reasons for giving the sentence.

What to expect at the court hearing

  • There is no need for you to attend the appeal hearing, but you can attend if you want to.
  • The investigating Garda will keep you informed about the appeal.
  • The investigating Garda can arrange a meeting with the prosecuting counsel and solicitor before the appeal hearing if you so wish.
  • The appeal will be heard by three judges sitting in the Court of Appeal (Criminal) which usually sits in the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin.
  • On the hearing date, the three judges will hear legal submissions from both the prosecution and the defence teams.
  • It is extremely rare that any witnesses will be called to give evidence at this hearing.
  • The judges will consider a sentence to be ‘unduly lenient’ only if they believe that the trial judge was wrong in law to give such a light sentence.
  • If the judges need more time to consider the case, they will reconvene on another date to give their judgment.
  • The judges may either increase the sentence or not change the sentence.

Who to contact if you have further queries

  • If you have any further queries, please contact the investigating Garda who will pass any queries on to the Office of the DPP.

Victims & Witnesses