Appellate Matters

Collins Chambers conducts criminal appeals in the Court of Appeal of Victoria and the High Court of Australia, acting in appeals against conviction, appeals against sentence, and applications for leave to appeal, including matters raising questions of law of general importance.

Appellate work is a distinct discipline. It begins with the record — the transcript, the exhibits, the rulings, and the charge — read completely and read critically. Identifying appealable error is a matter of judgment formed from that record, not from the disappointment of the result. The firm provides candid advice on merit at the outset: where an appeal has real prospects, that advice is given plainly, and where it does not, that advice is given just as plainly. Clients are not taken to the Court of Appeal to be told there what they should have been told in conference.

Where an appeal proceeds, the firm’s work includes the framing of grounds, the preparation of written cases and submissions, the briefing of appellate counsel of appropriate seniority, and the conduct of the appeal through to judgment. In sentence appeals, the firm attends closely to the developing jurisprudence of the Court of Appeal on the relevant offence class — an area in which currency of knowledge has direct forensic value.

The firm also advises on and conducts applications for special leave to the High Court of Australia in matters raising questions suitable for that court.

Appeals are governed by strict and short time limits. A person convicted or sentenced who wishes to consider an appeal — or an adviser acting for them — should contact the firm immediately upon the outcome at first instance. Preliminary advice on merit can usually be provided quickly once the relevant materials are available.