The trial stage starts when the court receives your case and continues until the final judgement of the final court instance is taken.

Appeals for decisions and judgements

All decisions and judgements of lower courts can be appealed before a higher court, unless stated otherwise in the Code of Criminal Procedure. It is very important to observe the time limits allowed for the appeals. All decisions and judgements can be appealed within 15 days of the date that you received the decision but the court, which made the decision, must be notified in writing of a wish to exercise the right of appeal within 7 days as of the pronunciation of the judgment. An appeal in cassation is submitted to the Supreme Court in writing within 30 days of making the judgement public. 

Some complaints do not have specific time limits, because you may discover the circumstances about which you are complaining at any moment during the trial. In those cases it is important to complain as soon as possible.

example If you have found out about reasons why a judge in your case may not be objective or impartial, or you think that your trial has been unreasonably delayed, you should raise that issue as soon as possible.

Complaints about the actions of judges

If you want to complain about certain actions (but not decisions) of a judge in your case, you should submit a complaint to the chief justice of the court. 

example If a judge has used derogatory language against you during the proceedings , you should complain about that to the chief justice of the court.

Reasonable length of trial

If you consider that your trial exceeds time limits that are reasonable, you should write an application to the chief justice of that court. Read more about the length of trial.

Resources

Last updated 26/04/2017