New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal

The New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, is the highest court for criminal matters and has appellate jurisdiction in the Australian State of New South Wales.[1]

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal
Jurisdiction New South Wales
LocationSix locations in Sydney CBD
Composition methodVice-regal appointment upon Premier's nomination, following advice of the Attorney General and Cabinet
Authorized byParliament of New South Wales via the:
Appeals toHigh Court of Australia
Appeals from
Judge term lengthmandatory retirement by age of 72
Websitesupremecourt.justice.nsw.gov.au
Chief Justice of New South Wales
CurrentlyJustice Tom Bathurst AC
Since1 June 2011 (2011-06-01)
President of the Court of Appeal
CurrentlyJustice Andrew Bell
Since28 February 2019 (2019-02-28)

Jurisdiction

The Court hears appeals from people who were convicted or pleaded guilty and were sentenced by a Supreme or District court judge. The Court also hears appeals lodged by The Crown against the severity of a sentence. Decisions made by the Land and Environment Court, the Industrial Court or the Drug Court in criminal jurisdiction may also be brought for appeal. The Court of Criminal Appeal may also grant leave to appeal in matters involving questions of fact or mixed questions of fact and law. It may also grant leave to appeal in cases where the severity or adequacy of the sentence is challenged.[1]

If a petitioner is not satisfied with the decision made by the Court of Criminal Appeal, application may be made to the High Court of Australia for special leave to appeal the decision before the High Court.

Composition

Three judges usually form the panel for appeals, although five judges can be used for significant legal issues. The Chief Justice has ultimate discretion in determining the number of judges to sit on the Bench, and the selection of individual judges for each case. A unanimous decision is not needed as the majority view will prevail. The presiding judge is usually one of the Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal, a Judges of Appeal or the Chief Judge at Common Law. Typically each bench comprises at least two judges of the Common Law Division.[2]:6 Single judges hear sentence appeals from the Drug Court.[2]:15

The Judges who may typically be the presiding judge are listed below:

This table is an excerpt from New South Wales Court of Appeal ยง Current Composition[edit]
NameTitleTerm beganTime in office
Tom Bathurst ACChief Justice [3]1 June 20119 years, 232 days
Andrew BellPresident, Court of Appeal [4]28 February 20191 year, 326 days
Clifton Hoeben AM, RFDJudge of Appeal23 April 20128 years, 271 days
Chief Judge at Common Law21 February 20137 years, 333 days
Julie WardJudge of Appeal12 November 20128 years, 68 days
Chief Judge in Equity15 March 20173 years, 310 days
John BastenJudge of Appeal[5]2 May 200515 years, 262 days
Robert Macfarlan8 September 200812 years, 133 days
Anthony Meagher10 August 20119 years, 162 days
Fabian Gleeson29 April 20137 years, 265 days
Mark Leeming3 June 20137 years, 230 days
Anthony Payne30 March 20164 years, 295 days
Richard White15 March 20173 years, 310 days
Paul Brereton AM, RFD22 August 201815 years, 262 days
Lucy McCallum30 January 20191 year, 355 days
Reginald BarrettActing Judge of Appeal16 March 20164 years, 309 days
Arthur Emmett7 March 20137 years, 318 days
Carolyn Simpson30 March 20182 years, 295 days

Caseload

In 2018, the Court heard 407 new cases, which included 265 appeals against severity of sentence, 108 appeals against conviction, 19 appeals against interlocutory judgments and 1 case returned from the High Court for re-hearing. Appeals against convictions were approximately 27 per cent in 2018 and, in recent years have showed a trend towards increasing complexity, impacting on Court time and resources.[2]:25

See also

References
  1. "Court of Criminal Appeal". Supreme Court of New South Wales. Government of New South Wales. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  2. "2018 Annual Review" (PDF). Supreme Court of New South Wales. Government of New South Wales. 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  3. Patty, A (13 May 2011). "Tom Bathurst appointed NSW Chief Justice". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  4. NSW Department of Justice (23 January 2019). "New President of the NSW Court of Appeal". Justice NSW. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  5. "Judicial officer contact details". Supreme Court of New South Wales. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
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