Your appeal / Scotland
Appeals in Scotland
The first step is due in two weeks, the test is miscarriage of justice, and the SCCRC can refer a case at any time.
The first deadline is two weeks
Scotland moves faster than most places. After a conviction on indictment, you must give written intimation of your intention to appeal within two weeks of the final determination of the proceedings. The note of appeal, with a full statement of all your grounds, follows within eight weeks of lodging that intimation.
In summary cases, an application for a stated case is due within one week.
The High Court can extend these periods at any time, so being late is not necessarily the end. Do not rely on that: act now.
The test
Appeal is with leave. The only test is whether there has been a miscarriage of justice. This can be based on evidence not heard at the original proceedings, if there is a reasonable explanation for that, or on a verdict that no reasonable jury, properly directed, could have returned. If a witness has changed their account, the explanation must be supported by independent evidence.
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
The SCCRC can refer a case at any time, whether or not there has been an appeal, where a miscarriage of justice may have occurred and a reference is in the interests of justice. In practice it says that it usually deals with people who have already appealed. Its phone number is 0141 270 7030.
In a 2025 decision, Daly and Keir, the appeals were dismissed. The SCCRC says the decision suggests Scottish courts may have wrongly excluded evidence, and that it may lead to reconsideration of sexual offence convictions from 2013 to 2025. It has a dedicated team and a supplementary form.
Paying for it
Apply to the Scottish Legal Aid Board. The court has no power to grant criminal legal aid for an appeal, and a fresh application is needed. SCCRC references are covered as a category.
Going further
A case can go to the UK Supreme Court only on a compatibility issue, with permission, within 28 days or any longer period the court considers equitable.
General information only, not legal advice. Do not rely on this page for a deadline in your case.