South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts157—Right of appeal in criminal cases
(1) Appeals lie to the
Court of Appeal as follows:
(a) if a
person is convicted on information—
(i)
the convicted person may appeal against the conviction as
of right on any ground that involves a question of law alone;
(ii)
the convicted person may appeal against the conviction on
any other ground with the permission of the Court of Appeal or on the
certificate of the court of trial that it is a fit case for appeal;
(iii)
subject to subsection (2), the convicted person or
the Director of Public Prosecutions may appeal against sentence passed on the
conviction (other than a sentence fixed by law), or a decision of the court to
defer sentencing the convicted person, on any ground with the permission of
the Court of Appeal;
(b) if a
person is tried on information and acquitted, the Director of Public
Prosecutions may, with the permission of the Court of Appeal, appeal against
the acquittal on any ground—
(i)
if the trial was by judge alone; or
(ii)
if the trial was by jury and the judge directed the jury
to acquit the person;
(c) if a
court makes a decision on an issue antecedent to trial that is adverse to the
prosecution, the Director of Public Prosecutions may appeal against the
decision—
(i)
as of right, on any ground that involves a question of
law alone; or
(ii)
on any other ground with the permission of the Court of
Appeal;
(d) if a
court makes a decision on an issue antecedent to trial that is adverse to the
defendant—
(i)
the defendant may appeal against the decision before the
commencement or completion of the trial with the permission of the court of
trial (but permission will only be granted if it appears to the court that
there are special reasons why it would be in the interests of the
administration of justice to have the appeal determined before commencement or
completion of the trial);
(ii)
the defendant may, if convicted, appeal against the
conviction under paragraph (a) asserting as a ground of appeal that the
decision was wrong;
(e)
subject to subsection (3), the Director of Public Prosecutions may, with
the permission of the Full Court, appeal against an interlocutory judgment.
(2) If a convicted
person is granted permission to appeal under subsection (1)(a)(iii), the
Director of Public Prosecutions may appeal under that subparagraph without the
need to obtain the permission of the Court of Appeal.
(3) The Full Court may
only grant permission for an appeal under subsection (1)(e) if satisfied
that—
(a) the
interlocutory judgment destroys or substantially weakens the prosecution case
in respect of any charge and, if correct, is likely to lead to abandonment of
that charge; or
(b) it
is otherwise in the interests of justice to do so.