District Court Appeals and Judicial Review in Criminal Cases

There are many avenues of appeal to decisions in cases in the criminal courts in Ireland. Broadly there are two types of appeal:


1.       An appeal about the decision of the court as to the verdict or the sentence or both,

2.      An appeal to the High Court through the judicial review procedure where you feel your natural or constitutional rights have been infringed or where you feel the court or prosecuting authority has exceeded it’s jurisdiction or has failed to act within the law.

See also criminal law in Ireland.

Judicial Review procedures

The remedies which you can seek through the judicial review procedure to the High Court include

1.       An order of prohibition-you might seek this order if you felt that you could not get a fair trial due to adverse prejudicial publicity or because of delay in bringing your case before the courts

2.      An order Certiorari-this is an order which quashes the decision of the court on the grounds that it acted in excess of it’s jurisdiction

3.      An order or mandamus-this orders a body to perform a certain task

4.      An order for damages

5.      An injunction

6.      Quo warranto-this compels a body to demonstrate it’s authority to pursue a certain course of action

7.      Habeas corpus-this applies where the person is alleging that he is being detained without authority, for example in a jail, mental hospital or Garda station. This relief arises out of Article 40.4.2 of the Irish Constitution.

Generally, an application for a judicial review must be made within 3 months or 6 months for certiorari. These time limits run from the time when the grounds for the judicial review first arose.

Appeals from the District Court

An right of appeal arises from the District Court to the Circuit Court and you have 14 days to do so. However you can apply to court for an extension of time within which you can lodge your appeal.

It is important to note that if you are appealing against a driving disqualification and you appeal within 14 days, then the disqualification is suspended pending the outcome of the appeal. If you are late, the disqualification cannot be lifted by the District Court.

You can appeal

1.       The severity of sentence

2.      The severity of sentence and conviction.

You cannot appeal against the conviction alone.

Once you lodge an appeal the sentence handed down by the District Court is suspended pending the outcome of the appeal.(If you have been imprisoned though you will stay in prison until the appeal is filed and recognisances entered into)

Circuit court appeal

Your appeal to the Circuit Court will be heard by a judge and you can submit new evidence and you can change the original plea submitted in the District Court.

If the Circuit Court decides to change your sentence it can only do so within the jurisdiction of the District Court. There is no further right of appeal from the Circuit Court but if the grounds arise you can seek a judicial review in the High Court.

Case stated procedure

You can appeal a decision of the District Court by way of a case stated appeal to the High Court. The purpose of this procedure is to allow you to ask the High Court’s opinion on a point of law or a mixture of law and fact.

However you cannot state a case to the High Court on the basis of the facts alone.

There is also a consultative case stated procedure which must take place before a decision is made in the District Court-this allows a Judge to send a consultative case stated to the High Court before he makes his decision for clarification on a point of law.

Appeal from the Circuit Court

You can appeal a decision of the Circuit Court to the Court of Criminal Appeal and this must be done on the basis of the conduct of the trial in the Circuit Court or on a point of law.

Unlike the District Court appeal avenue, you can appeal a conviction only to the Court of Criminal Appeal.

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