Home >  Areas of Practice >  Appeals
Print

Appeals

If a trial of a matter occurred and a conviction is entered, there is always the option to appeal a conviction and/or the sentence you receive upon conviction. Depending on the nature of the offence, the following avenues of appeal are as follows:

If it is a summary conviction offence, the trial usually occurs in the Ontario Court of Justice before a judge alone. Depending on the nature of the offence, the appeal would go to the Divisional Court or if the offence is more serious, to the Court of Appeal in Toronto.

If the matter is an indictable offence, there are modes of election on how a trial can proceed.  You have the option of a trial before a judge in the Ontario Court of Justice or the option of a trial by a judge alone in the Superior Court of Ontario, or a trial by judge and jury. If you elect to go to the Superior Court, then a preliminary hearing is held.  If there is enough evidence to put before a judge and jury, then the committal is ordered by a judge and then the matter goes to the higher court.

If there is a trial in the Superior Court and a conviction is entered, the appeal would go again to either Divisional Court or the Court of Appeal in Toronto. You have 30 days to exercise the option for an Appeal. A Notice of Appeal gets the appeal started. If you fail to do so, there is always an option of bringing a motion to the court for a Notice of Appeal and a request for late filing. It is up to the Appeal Court to determine whether or not it will allow a late filing of any appeal past the 30 days deadline. 

If you are going to appeal, you will need to retain counsel with an additional retainer. If you are to appeal through Legal Aid their requirements are much more stringent for an appeal. A certificate could be granted only after a lawyer provides an opinion as to whether there are merits to the appeal and a request for the certificate to be granted.

If you require assistance with an appeal, contact one of our criminal lawyers at Evans, Bragagnolo & Sullivan in Timmins or Temiskaming Shores.