The 28-day clock
Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW), Part 3: an appeal from the Local Court to the District Court may be made as of right within 28 days of conviction or sentence. After 28 days, leave is required — and leave is only available within 3 months. After that, the ordinary appeal pathway closes.
Most of what matters in this area can be said in three sentences. An appeal lodged within 28 days of a Local Court conviction or sentence proceeds as of right — no permission needed, no explanation required. Between 28 days and 3 months, you must persuade the District Court to grant leave, which means explaining the delay and showing the appeal is worth hearing. After 3 months, the door closes — and the options that remain (annulment in limited circumstances, or review mechanisms reserved for exceptional cases) are far narrower than the appeal you could have lodged in week one.
This is why the first conversation should happen early, even if you are undecided. Lodging an appeal preserves your position; deciding not to proceed later costs little. Missing the window cannot be undone by good arguments afterwards.
Severity appeals and conviction appeals — the distinction that drives everything
Every criminal appeal is one of two things, and the first job is deciding which one yours is.
A severity appeal accepts the conviction and challenges the sentence: you are not saying the court got the verdict wrong, you are saying the penalty — the prison term, the conviction itself where a non-conviction order was open, the disqualification, the fine — was too harsh. These are the most common appeals in NSW, and they are effectively a fresh sentencing exercise in the District Court, where new material about you and your circumstances can be put before the judge.
A conviction appeal challenges the finding of guilt. From the Local Court, it is a rehearing on the transcript of the original evidence — the witnesses are not usually recalled — so the appeal turns on what the record shows and whether the magistrate's reasoning withstands scrutiny.
One honest framing should sit over both: appeals are not second chances by right — they correct error. An appeal court is not asked whether it might have decided differently; it is asked whether the decision below was wrong. Good appeal advice begins with a clear-eyed assessment of whether that case can actually be made. Every matter turns on its own facts.
Where does your matter go?
Annulments
Convicted or sentenced in your absence — a missed court attendance notice, a wrong address, a warrant you discovered later. Section 4 applications to have the decision annulled and the matter reheard.
District Court Appeals
The main road: appeals from the Local Court against sentence or conviction, as of right within 28 days — including stays of sentence and licence disqualification while the appeal is heard.
Higher Court Appeals
Appeals from the District and Supreme Courts to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal, and special leave applications to the High Court. Leave requirements, grounds, and what these appeals genuinely involve.
The question every severity appellant asks: can the sentence get worse?
Yes — and you are entitled to a straight answer about how that risk works. The District Court has the power to impose a more severe sentence than the Local Court did. But it cannot do so by ambush: if the judge is considering a harsher outcome, the judge must warn you first — what practitioners call a Parker warning — and you may then ask to withdraw the appeal and keep the original sentence.
In practice, that warning mechanism makes the risk real but managed. Part of proper appeal advice is assessing, before anything is lodged, whether your sentence sits in the range where an increase is a live possibility — and being frank with you about it. An appeal lodged on hope rather than assessment serves no one.
How Lenz Legal approaches appeals
Appeal work is different from trial work. It starts with the record — the transcript, the sentencing remarks, the evidence as it actually went in — and a disciplined judgement about where, if anywhere, the error lies. Dean reads the material himself, gives a direct view on the merits, and is as willing to advise against an appeal as for one. Where the appeal should run, the preparation is methodical: the right ground, the right fresh material where the rules allow it, and realistic submissions aimed at the order the court can actually make.
If your matter was decided in any Sydney court and the clock is running, call before the 28 days expire. The conversation is confidential and costs you nothing but the call.
Criminal appeals — your questions answered
How long do I have to appeal a Local Court decision?
Generally 28 days from conviction or sentence, as of right. Between 28 days and 3 months you need leave, which means explaining the delay and showing the appeal has substance. After 3 months the ordinary appeal pathway from the Local Court closes, and what remains is far narrower.
Can the District Court increase my sentence on appeal?
Yes, but not without warning you first. If the judge is considering a more severe sentence, a Parker warning must be given, and you may then seek to withdraw the appeal and keep the original outcome. Assessing this risk before lodging is a core part of proper advice.
What is the difference between a severity appeal and a conviction appeal?
A severity appeal accepts the conviction and challenges only the sentence — it runs as a fresh sentencing exercise, and new subjective material can be put before the District Court. A conviction appeal challenges the finding of guilt itself and is reheard on the transcript of the original evidence, with fresh evidence only by leave.
I was convicted without knowing about the court date — can I appeal?
Often the better remedy is an annulment under section 4 of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act: if you were convicted or sentenced in your absence, you can apply within 2 years to have the decision annulled and the matter reheard. See our annulments page.