Court of Appeal

If you disagree with the judgment, you can appeal. The Public Prosecution Service can do so too, where the public prosecutor is not satisfied with the judgment. Your case is then heard again at one of the four courts of appeal in the Netherlands. We represent clients at every court of appeal in the country.

If we represented you before the district court and you wish to appeal, we will argue your case again before the Court of Appeal. But you can also contact us where we have not represented you before and you want someone to take a fresh look at your case file on appeal. That sometimes leads to new insights and with them to a different outcome.

Lodging an appeal

You may disagree with the district court’s judgment, for instance because you did not commit the offence of which you were convicted or because you consider the sentence too high. In many cases you then have fourteen days to appeal, counted from the judgment or from the moment you became aware of it.

An appeal offers the opportunity to have your case reconsidered by different judges, known on appeal as appellate judges. With your lawyer you discuss whether an appeal is a realistic way of achieving what you want, such as an acquittal or a lower sentence. An appeal carries risks as well, however. The Court of Appeal can impose a higher sentence than the district court did, and can convict you of offences of which the district court acquitted you. So do discuss the possible scenarios with one of our lawyers, so that you can weigh them up properly.

Once you have appealed, the district court sends the case file on to the Court of Appeal. As at the district court, you and your lawyer are given the opportunity to submit investigative requests. That usually happens in a statement of grounds of appeal, which is sent to the Court of Appeal within fourteen days of the appeal being lodged. In it your lawyer explains why further investigation is important or necessary. That investigation can be crucial on appeal, because the Court of Appeal is the last court to rule on the facts. The investigative requests are generally discussed at a case management hearing. Once all the investigation has been completed, the substantive hearing follows.

The hearing before the Court of Appeal

The substantive hearing before the Court of Appeal largely follows the same course as at the district court. The appellate judges put questions to you about the suspicion and about your personal circumstances. The Advocate General, the prosecutor on appeal, explains how he or she views the case, after which your lawyer may respond. Any victim or injured party may also address the court. Finally, you again have the final word.

One difference from the district court is that the Court of Appeal discusses the case in less detail. It concentrates above all on the points you disagree with. The hearing is therefore often shorter than at the district court.

If you are still in pre-trial detention during the appeal, a pro forma hearing takes place every three months, just as at the district court. On each occasion you can ask to be released.

The judgment and cassation

In most cases the Court of Appeal gives its decision within fourteen days of the substantive hearing. That decision is called a judgment.

Do you disagree with the judgment? Then you can lodge an appeal in cassation with the highest court, the Supreme Court. Cassation is a different procedure, one that calls for specific expertise: the district court and the Court of Appeal establish the facts on the basis of the case file, whereas the Supreme Court examines only whether the law was correctly applied. You can come to our firm for that as well. Contact us to discuss whether cassation is a realistic option in your situation.