Report and Recommendations - Scottish Government

introduced. Thus, as had been indicated was the Government’s intention 22 , theautomatic right of appeal was abolished.8.1.8 Appeals against preliminary rulings, made during the first instance process butin advance of a trial diet, proceed by way of Note of Appeal, but leave of thecourt of first instance (not the appellate court) must be obtained 23 . The timelimit for appealing is seven days 24 . This period cannot be extended. If leaveto appeal is refused, or no appeal is timeously marked, any personsubsequently convicted can attack a preliminary ruling in the context of anappeal against conviction, if the ruling caused a miscarriage of justice.8.1.9 Once a Note of Appeal is lodged, whether allowed late or timeous, the trialjudge is required 25 to write a report on the case generally and on the specificgrounds of appeal “as soon as is reasonably practicable”. The papers areplaced before a single judge to determine whether to grant leave to appeal 26 .This is commonly known as the “first sift”. There are no specific time limitsfor the completion of any of these processes. The determination is made inchambers without any oral hearing 27 . If leave to appeal is refused, theapplicant may, within fourteen days 28 , require the High Court to reconsider theissue 29 . This is also done in chambers without an oral hearing. If leave toappeal against conviction is granted, the appellant has forty-two days in which22 ibid para 4223 1995 Act s 7424 ibid s 74(2)(b) as amended prospectively by the Criminal Justice and Licensing Act 2010 s 7225 1995 Act s 11326 ibid s 106-10727 Ibid s 107(6)28 ibid s 107(4A)29 although this is not an appeal, it is often called one to the “second sift”336