Chapter Six – Judiciary and Prosecutor's Office
Article 62 – Judicial proceedings
Court judgments may be annulled, changed or suspended only by court, in accordance with the procedures established by law. Other procedures for releasing from a sentence and commuting the unserved part of a sentence shall be determined by law.
Article 95 – Right and procedure for filing an appeal
1. A participant in criminal proceedings may, in cases directly provided for and in the manner prescribed by this Code, appeal an action or a decision of a court, a prosecutor or an investigator.
2. An appeal against an action or decision of a court shall be filed with the court that delivered the decision.
3. An appeal shall be filed in writing. It shall be attached to the criminal case files.
4. When filing an appeal, the number of copies of the appeal shall be sufficient to distribute it to all participants in the hearing on the appeal.
5. An appeal may be filed at any stage of criminal proceedings, in cases directly provided for and in the manner prescribed by this Code.
6. Unless otherwise provided for by this Code, an appeal may be filed within 10 days after the appellant learns about the action or decision that it considers unlawful and unsubstantiated.
7. An appeal shall indicate which requirements were violated in delivering the appealed decision and the facts that demonstrate the erroneousness of the provisions of the appealed decision. Materials confirming the circumstances referred to in the appeal, including information on new circumstances that were not known when the appealed decision was made, shall be attached to the appeal.
8. Before a decision is made on an appeal, the filing party may withdraw it.
Article 98 – Decision on an appeal
1. Based on the review of an appeal, one of the following decisions may be delivered:
a) repeal or change the appealed decision or part of it;
b) reject the appeal.
2. An appeal and a decision made on it shall be attached to the criminal case file.
Article 291 – Appealing a ruling delivered by a court with respect to issues arising during the enforcement of a judgment
1. A judgment delivered by a court according to Articles 282, 283, 284, 285, 2851, 286, 287, 288 and 289 of this Code may be appealed within 10 days only once to a criminal chamber of a court of appeal, which shall review the appeal within 1 month without an oral hearing.
2. The prosecutor shall not participate in the review of the above issues either in the court of first instance or in the court of appeal.
Article 292 – General provisions
1. A party may appeal a judgment of a court of first instance if the appellant considers it to be unlawful and/or unreasonable.
2. An appeal may be filed by a prosecutor, a superior prosecutor, a convicted person and/or his/her defence lawyer.
3. A convicted person, against whom a judgment of conviction has been rendered in his/her absence, may appeal the judgment within one month: after being detained; or from the time of appearing before the relevant authorities; or from the announcement of the judgment by the court of first instance, if a convicted person requests the review of the appeal without his/her participation.
4. An appeal may not be filed against a judgment rendered based on a jury verdict.
1. A decision under article 74 may be appealed in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Evidence as follows:
(a) The Prosecutor may make an appeal on any of the following grounds:
(i) Procedural error,
(ii) Error of fact, or
(iii) Error of law;
(b) The convicted person, or the Prosecutor on that person's behalf, may make an appeal on any of the following grounds:
(i) Procedural error,
(ii) Error of fact,
(iii) Error of law, or
(iv) Any other ground that affects the fairness or reliability of the proceedings or decision.
2.
(a) A sentence may be appealed, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, by the Prosecutor or the convicted person on the ground of disproportion between the crime and the sentence;
(b) If on an appeal against sentence the Court considers that there are grounds on which the conviction might be set aside, wholly or in part, it may invite the Prosecutor and the convicted person to submit grounds under article 81, paragraph 1 (a) or (b), and may render a decision on conviction in accordance with article 83;
(c) The same procedure applies when the Court, on an appeal against conviction only, considers that there are grounds to reduce the sentence under paragraph 2 (a).
3.
(a) Unless the Trial Chamber orders otherwise, a convicted person shall remain in custody pending an appeal;
(b) When a convicted person's time in custody exceeds the sentence of imprisonment imposed, that person shall be released, except that if the Prosecutor is also appealing, the release may be subject to the conditions under subparagraph (c) below;
(c) In case of an acquittal, the accused shall be released immediately, subject to the following:
(i) Under exceptional circumstances, and having regard, inter alia, to the concrete risk of flight, the seriousness of the offence charged and the probability of success on appeal, the Trial Chamber, at the request of the Prosecutor, may maintain the detention of the person pending appeal;
(ii) A decision by the Trial Chamber under subparagraph (c) (i) may be appealed in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Evidence.
4. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3 (a) and (b), execution of the decision or sentence shall be suspended during the period allowed for appeal and for the duration of the appeal proceedings.