Appeals of Criminal Judgments and Decisions
Explanation
This explanation addresses the rules regulating the appeal of criminal judgments (l'appel), and it is an educational clarification of procedural rules, not a substitute for the original legal texts specified in the law. The law clearly defines the parties to the dispute who have the right to exercise this appeal, and they are the Appellate Public Prosecution, the personal claimant (la partie civile), the defendant, the person civilly liable (le civilement responsable), and the guarantor (l'assureur).
The scope and subject matter of the right to appeal vary depending on the capacity of the appellant. The Appellate Public Prosecution appeals regarding matters related to the public action (l'action publique), and the Cassation Public Prosecution may direct a written request to it to appeal in specific cases such as acquittal and the dropping of the public right action. In contrast, the appeal of the personal claimant (la partie civile) is limited to the civil aspect, and they have the right to appeal the dismissal of their civil claim even if the judgment of acquittal of the defendant becomes final. As for the person civilly liable (le civilement responsable) or the guarantor (l'assureur), they have the right to appeal the judgment that obligated them to pay compensation jointly and severally with the defendant, and if one of them appeals alone and the defendant complies, the appellant alone benefits from their appeal.
The exercise of the appeal is subject to precise time limits specified in the law. The personal claimant, the defendant, the person civilly liable, and the guarantor each have a time limit of fifteen days for the principal appeal (l'appel principal), and this time limit begins from the date of issuance of the judgment if it is adversarial (contradictoire), or from the date of its notification if it is deemed adversarial (réputé contradictoire) or in absentia (par défaut) or if it rules to dismiss the objection in form. Meanwhile, the Appellate Public Prosecutor benefits from a time limit of one month that always runs from the date of issuance of the first instance judgment.
The law permits any party to the lawsuit who missed the fifteen-day time limit to submit an incidental appeal (l'appel incident) within five days from the date of being notified of the date of the first appellate hearing, provided that a principal appeal has been filed by one of the parties. However, the legislator linked the fate of this appeal to the fate of the principal appeal, stipulating that the dismissal of the principal appeal for a formal reason automatically entails the dismissal of the incidental appeal.
The appeal determines the scope of jurisdiction of the second instance court according to the devolutive effect and the limits of the appeal. The appeal of the Public Prosecutor devolves the entire public action before the court unless the appeal is restricted to a specific aspect, whereas the court's review in the defendant's appeal is limited only to the boundaries of what their appeal addressed. In all cases, the Court of Appeal is prohibited from considering new facts that constitute crimes which were not previously presented to the single criminal judge.
Official legal articles
Think deeper
How does the restriction prohibiting the Court of Appeal from considering new criminal facts relate to the limits of the devolutive effect of the defendant's appeal compared to the Public Prosecutor's appeal?
Flashcards
What is the appeal time limit granted to the Appellate Public Prosecutor, and from what date does it begin?
Their time limit is one month, and it begins from the date of issuance of the first instance judgment.
What is the time limit for the principal appeal for the defendant and the personal claimant in an adversarial judgment?
Fifteen days from the date of issuance of the judgment.
When does the 15-day time limit for the principal appeal begin if the judgment is in absentia or deemed adversarial?
It begins from the date of notification of the judgment to the convicted person.
What is the effect of dismissing the principal appeal for a formal reason on the incidental appeal?
It automatically entails the dismissal of the incidental appeal.
What is the legal rule if the guarantor alone appeals the adjudged compensation and the defendant complies with the judgment?
It is permissible for them to do so, and the guarantor alone benefits from the outcome of their appeal, without the defendant.
May the personal claimant appeal the dismissal of their civil claim if the acquittal judgment becomes final due to the lack of appeal by the Public Prosecution?
Yes, they have the right to appeal the judgment dismissing the civil claim even if the acquittal judgment becomes final.
What is the time limit for submitting an incidental appeal and when does it begin?
Its time limit is five days from the date the party is notified of the date of the first appellate hearing.
Practice questions
An adversarial first instance judgment was issued obligating the defendant and the guarantor jointly and severally to pay compensation. The defendant complied and did not appeal, while the guarantor alone appealed the judgment. What is the legal effect of the guarantor's appeal in this case?
The law permits the guarantor to appeal alone even if the defendant complies, and in this case, they alone benefit from their appeal (Article 209).
In which of the following cases does the Cassation Public Prosecution have the right to request in writing that the Appellate Prosecution appeal a first instance judgment?
The law exclusively specified the cases in which the Cassation Prosecution requests in writing the appeal of the judgment, which are acquittal, annulment of prosecutions, dropping of the public right action, or declaration of the court's lack of jurisdiction (Article 211).
What is the legal time limit granted to the defendant to appeal a judgment dismissing the objection in form?
The time limit for appeal is fifteen days running from the date of notification of the judgment if it rules to dismiss the objection in form, or is deemed adversarial, or is in absentia (Article 214).
A litigant submitted an incidental appeal after the expiration of the fifteen-day time limit, and the court ruled to dismiss the principal appeal for a formal reason. What is the effect of this on the incidental appeal?
The law dictates that the dismissal of the principal appeal for a formal reason automatically entails the dismissal of the incidental appeal (Article 216).
The defendant alone appealed the criminal judgment issued convicting him. What are the limits of the Court of Appeal's review in this action?
The appeal submitted by the defendant binds the Court of Appeal within the limits of what the appeal addressed from the appealed judgment (Article 220).
A first instance judgment ruled for the acquittal of the defendant and the dismissal of the personal claimant's claim, and the Public Prosecution did not appeal, so the acquittal judgment became final. What is the personal claimant legally entitled to in this case?
If the civil claim was dismissed consequent to the acquittal judgment, the personal claimant may appeal the judgment ruling for its dismissal even if the acquittal judgment became final due to the lack of appeal by the Public Prosecution (Article 210).
Case problems
The single criminal judge issued an adversarial judgment convicting the defendant (Imad) and obligating him jointly and severally with the guarantor company to pay an amount of twenty million liras as compensation to the personal claimant. Imad declared his acceptance of the judgment and formally complied with it, while the guarantor company submitted a separate appeal within the legally prescribed fifteen-day time limit. The Court of Appeal ruled to accept the guarantor company's appeal, revoke the judgment, and reduce the adjudged compensation to ten million liras. Imad demanded the amendment of the compensation imposed on him to become ten million, similar to the guarantor and due to the joint and several liability.
Model answer
The guarantor has the right to appeal the judgment that obligated them jointly and severally with the defendant to pay compensation (Article 209).
It is permissible for the guarantor to appeal this judgment alone even if the defendant complied with it.
The law established a decisive consequence upon the defendant's compliance where the guarantor alone benefits from their appeal.
Since Imad complied with the first instance judgment, the effects of the guarantor company's appeal are restricted to it alone. Imad remains obligated for the full amount of twenty million liras stated in the judgment with which he complied.
Self-grading rubric
The single judge issued an adversarial judgment ruling for the acquittal of the defendant and the dismissal of the personal claimant's claim. After forty days had passed since the issuance of the judgment, the Appellate Public Prosecutor submitted a principal appeal requesting the conviction of the defendant. The personal claimant was notified of the date of the first appellate hearing, so they proceeded, four days after being notified, to submit an incidental appeal for the civil aspect. The defendant raised a defense to dismiss the Public Prosecution's appeal for exceeding the one-month time limit, and the court ruled accordingly, dismissing the Prosecution's appeal in form. The personal claimant insisted on the necessity of deciding on their incidental appeal because it was submitted within the five-day time limit.
Model answer
The appeal time limit for the Appellate Public Prosecutor is one month from the date of issuance of the judgment (Article 214). Since their appeal was submitted after forty days, its dismissal is considered a dismissal for a formal reason related to the time limit.
The party who did not originally appeal has the right to submit an incidental appeal within five days of being notified of the first appellate hearing date (Article 216). This requires the existence of a principal appeal.
Legal rules dictate that the dismissal of the principal appeal for a formal reason automatically entails the dismissal of the incidental appeal.
Based on this, the incidental appeal submitted by the personal claimant is automatically dismissed consequent to the formal dismissal of the principal appeal. It is not permissible for the court to consider its subject matter.
Self-grading rubric
A defendant was convicted in the first instance of the crime of theft, so he submitted an appeal to challenge his conviction for this crime alone, without an appeal from the Public Prosecution. During the appellate trial phase, the prosecution presented documents confirming that the defendant committed another crime, which is forgery related to the same dispute, and these are new criminal facts that were not previously presented to the single criminal judge. The Prosecution and the personal claimant requested the Court of Appeal to address these facts and convict him of the crime of forgery in addition to theft.
Model answer
The appeal submitted by the defendant binds the Court of Appeal within the limits of what the appeal addressed from the appealed judgment (Article 220). This makes the scope of the court's jurisdiction restricted to what the defendant appealed.
The law prohibits the Court of Appeal from considering new facts that constitute crimes and were not presented to the single judge who issued the judgment.
Since the facts of the forgery crime are new criminal facts that were never presented to the single judge, the Court of Appeal is prohibited from examining them. It is also prohibited from deciding on attributing them to the defendant.
This results in the dismissal of the request for conviction for the crime of forgery and restricting the review to the adjudged crime of theft. This is done within the limits drawn by the defendant's appeal.