By when can I file a criminal case appeal?

If you cannot accept the first-instance result, you can respond through a criminal case appeal.

A criminal case appeal allows you, when you are dissatisfied with a judgment rendered by a lower court, to apply to a higher court for its reversal or modification.

Appeal to the appellate court: you may newly present evidence and arguments that you were unable to submit in the first instance.

Final appeal to the Supreme Court: dissatisfied with the second-instance court's judgment, you request a trial before the Supreme Court, which addresses the interpretation and application of the law.

Depending on the client's case, an appeal can be filed where there is a violation of a law or order that affected the judgment, where the facts were mistakenly assessed, or where there are grounds to find that the determination of the sentence was improper.

However, the period for filing an appeal or a final appeal against the result of a criminal trial is within 7 days from the date on which the judgment is pronounced.

Unlike civil litigation, this is unrelated to the date of service, and the period is short.

Public holidays and Saturdays are also included in the appeal-filing period. If you do not file an appeal within these 7 days, the sentence becomes final, so if you wish to contest the judgment of the court below, you should prepare promptly.

In criminal proceedings, there is a principle that, where the prosecutor has not appealed and only the defendant has appealed, the appellate court cannot impose on the defendant a sentence heavier than that of the judgment below.

If your assigned prosecutor considers the suspended prison sentence for quasi-rape to be too light, the prosecutor will also appeal, and in that case you must be mindful that the principle of prohibition of disadvantageous alteration does not apply.

We hope you will proceed with your criminal appeal through a consultation with a criminal attorney who can review the result of the court below once again.