Court of Appeal

Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal deals predominantly with civil and criminal appeals from matters heard in the High Court and serious criminal matters heard in the District Court.

Criminal jurisdiction

After a long period of increased filings, the number of criminal appeals filed in the Court of Appeal has recently been decreasing. In the 2013/14 financial year there was a 20% decrease in the number of new appeals, from 559 cases in 2012/13 to 449.

For the 2013/14 financial year this jurisdiction has also seen a:

• 13% increase in disposals - 541 cases from 480 cases; and
• 26% decrease in the number of active criminal appeals – 279 cases from 375 cases.

Civil jurisdiction

The number of new civil appeals in the Court of Appeal has been increasing since early 2008. In the 2013/14 financial year there was a 5% increase in new civil appeals filed, from 283 cases to 296 in the 2013/14 financial year.

For the 2013/14 financial year this jurisdiction has seen a:

• 29% increase in disposals - 327 cases from 253; and
• 14% decrease in the number of active civil appeals – 229 cases from 267.

Statistics