There is no denying that the criminal justice system works most of the times but there have been cases where individuals have been wrongly convicted. If you believe that you or one of your loved ones has erroneously convicted, you can appeal the conviction with the help of the right criminal appeals barristers.

At the end of the trial, your barrister has to give you written advice on whether there are any grounds for appeal. This advice is provided under legal aid. If the barrister thinks that there are good grounds for appealing, he or she will draft the appeal for you. However, most of the people do not want to use the services of the same barrister again for their appeal.

You have the option of hiring the services of other criminal appeals barristers to handle your case. You have 28 days from the date of your conviction to file an appeal. There are exceptions to this time limit provided there are good reasons for the exception. The solicitor fills the relevant form called Notice of Grounds and this form along with the grounds of appeal draft prepared by the barrister is submitted to the crown court where you were convicted.

This appeal application is then forwarded to the appellate court in London. This application is called leave to appeal and is considered by a single appeal judge. The role of appeals judge is to filter out applications that are not likely to be successful. All the appeals go through this process and the reasons for the decision are given in writing by the judge.

Keep in mind that there is no hearing at this stage and the judge takes decision on the basis of the submitted documents that include the notice and grounds of appeal, relevant trial papers, transcript of the original conviction and any advice on the appeal. This is why it is important to hire the services of experienced criminal appeals barristers with proven track record to ensure that the leave to appeal is granted by the judge.

When the leave to appeal is granted, it moves to the Full Court. This is where the appeal is heard and new witnesses can be called in for giving evidence. The Full court then makes this decision on granting or refusing the application. If the appeal is granted, the conviction can be completely quashed or a retrial can be ordered by the court. If the appeal is against sentencing, it can be reduced. For instance, the convict can be charged with manslaughter instead of murder.

In case the leave to appeal is rejected by a single judge, there is an option available to move the application directly to the Full court. However, harsh penalties are can be levied if the Full court also ultimately refuses the appeal. Therefore, this option needs to be considered extremely carefully. The penalties may also include the time already spent in custody to not be counted as part of the original sentencing which means the convict has to start the sentence afresh.

Overall, the choice of the barrister plays a very important role in the conviction being successfully overturned or sentencing being reduced.