As per 2018 crime statistics, the city of Sydney has the highest crime rate for 100,000 people. The crime rate stands at 1445.1. An individual convicted of a crime may believe that they are falsely implicated, or the sentence is too harsh for the crime.
In that case, the convicted person can contact a criminal lawyer Sydney and appeal against the sentence.
What Does a Sentence Appeal Mean?
A sentence appeal refers to a court procedure where the convicted person requests the court to re-judge the case or revise a sentence. When you appeal against a sentence, your request is sent to the Court of Criminal Appeal.
Since the criminal laws and the legal procedures are complex, you need a knowledgeable criminal lawyer who can represent your side in sentence appeals.
Why Do You Need a Criminal Lawyer?
File Notice of Appeal
According to NSW crime statistics, there has been a 33.3% rise in crimes like intimidation, harassment, and stalking. However, many people are falsely implicated in such crimes due to personal or political rivalries, revenge and other such motives.
Anyone who believes they have been wrongly convicted for crimes they did not commit has the right to hire a lawyer and appeal the sentence.
While Australian laws give you the right to sentence appeals, it does not happen automatically. You need to trigger the process manually. A criminal lawyer needs to file a notice of appeal and an appellate brief that mentions your reasons to appeal. A leading criminal lawyer in Sydney can help consider several grounds for sentence appeals.
Appeal Time Limit
Australian laws give the convicts an appeal time limit. You have one calendar month to appeal from the date of your sentence. It means you need to act fast to file a sentence appeal.
Since an average person is not aware of the legal procedure, the court could deny a sentence appeal. Criminal lawyers know the laws and can ensure the notice of appeal is filed in the court within the appeal time limit.
Mention the Grounds of Appeal
NSW crime statistics mention there has been a rise in domestic violence in recent years. If you compare current data(2021) with previous data, you will notice a 1.15 per cent increase in domestic violence.
When you file a notice of appeal, you need to mention the grounds of appeal. An average convicted person may not be able to express in legal terms why the sentence should be reduced or why the conviction should be squashed.
A criminal defence lawyer, on the other hand, can study your case and find appropriate grounds for an appeal. The notice of appeal should keep the grounds for appeal to the point when filing Form 26, and attorneys are experts at this thanks to their experience.
You Are in Prison
If you are convicted and sent to prison, you need a criminal lawyer to fill the forms for sentence appeal. The forms are made available in prison, but you need an attorney to fill these complicated forms and submit them to the proper court, which registers the notice of appeal.
Filling sentence appeals is a tricky process, and you need to complete all pages and fill in all required details on the page. If you are appealing against your conviction and your sentence, you need to delete whichever type of appeal is not applicable in the form. When you hire a criminal lawyer, you don’t have to worry about filling the form as your lawyer will do it for you.
The Time to Appeal Has Passed
If the time to appeal has passed, you need to complete and file a Form 28, a Notice of application for extension of time within which to appeal. The lawyer can fill the form 28 for you and protect your right of sentence appeal.
