Report and Recommendations - Scottish Government

called for, four weeks after the jury’s verdict. After lodging the Notice, thereis a further eight week period 15 during which the applicant for leave to appeal,as the potential appellant then is, must lodge his/her Note of Appeal. It is thisdocument 16 which is supposed to contain a “full statement of all the groundsof appeal” 17 . Appeals against sentence proceed on the basis of a Note ofAppeal lodged within two weeks of the sentence 18 .8.1.7 All appeals against conviction and/or sentence require leave from a singlejudge of the High Court or, if that is refused, the Court itself sitting with aquorum of at least three (conviction) or two (sentence) judges. The test for thegrant of leave is whether the stated ground is “arguable” 19 . The requirementfor leave to appeal had been abolished following recommendations of theThomson Committee 20 . Thereafter, a convicted person had an automatic rightof appeal against conviction and/or sentence. In practice, “unstateable”appeals were largely eliminated from the system because counsel, who hadexclusive rights of audience in the High Court at that time, were ethicallybound not to present cases which had no basis in fact or law. Counsel requiredto advise accordingly and an appellant with no “stateable” case would eitherhave to abandon his/her appeal or present it himself/herself without furtherlegal assistance. Following the successful challenge to that practice before theEuropean Court 21 , the requirement that all cases must have leave was15 1995 Act s 110(1)16 Act of Adjournal (Criminal Procedure Rules) 1996, Form 15-2B17 1995 Act s 110(3)(b)18 1995 Act s 110(1)19 1995 Act ss 107(1) and 180(1)20 Third Report (Cmnd 7005) (1977) para 2.0921 Boner v United Kingdom 1995 SCCR 1, the appeal being resisted by the Lord Advocate (LordRodger)335