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Filing a 'Notice of appeal'
If you want to appeal against your conviction and/or the sentence imposed in the district or supreme courts, you must first file a 'Notice of appeal' in the Court of Appeal. There is no filing fee.
If you are in custody, you can file the 'Notice' with sentence management at the correctional centre. You should make sure that management has received your 'Notice'. If you are not in custody, you file your appeal at the Court of Appeal Registry, Supreme Court Complex, George Street, Brisbane.
The 'Notice of appeal' is set out in 
Form 26 [PDF, 161KB] is included in this kit. Notices are also available from the Court of Appeal Registry. If you are in prison, the forms are available from any prison duty lawyers and the prison general manager's office. See 'How to complete your 'Notice of appeal'.
You can fax your 'Notice of appeal' to the Court of Appeal so that it is filed quickly and then post the original to the registry. The details for the Court of Appeal Registry can be found in 'Abandoning the appeal'.
If you are not legally represented for your appeal, you will receive a letter of confirmation from the registry advising that they have received your 'Notice'.
Time limits to appeal
There is a strict time limit to file the 'Notice of appeal'. You must file the 'Notice' within one calendar month from the date of your sentence if you are appealing against sentence, and one calendar month from your date of conviction if you are appealing against conviction. If you are in custody, the date you file the 'Notice' with sentence management is taken to be the date of filing in the Court of Appeal.
One calendar month is calculated by excluding the day of your conviction or sentence, but including the last day of that calendar month. For example, if you were convicted or sentenced on June 12, you do not count that day as part of the calendar month for your appeal. You would be able to file your 'Notice' up to and including July 12. (See s.671 (2) Criminal Code Qld).
It is important to remember that the timeframe for appealing against your conviction will start from the day you were actually convicted - not from the time you were sentenced. So if you were convicted on one day but sentenced on a later day, your timeframe for appealing will begin from the day you were convicted.
Extension of time to appeal
If you file the 'Notice' after one calendar month has passed, you will need to file a 'Notice of application for extension of time to appeal'. The Court of Appeal will then decide whether you will be allowed to appeal, because your 'Notice' was not filed in time. This notice is set out in Form 28 [PDF, 148KB]. You may also fax this form, but again you must send the original.
You will have to write very good reasons in your Form 28 application to justify why the Court of Appeal should hear your appeal. Be prepared to argue your actual appeal grounds at the time of the hearing of the extension application.
My appeal was unsuccessful - what now?
If you have already had an appeal heard by a District Court Judge under s.222 of the Justices Act and you have been unsuccessful, you may be able to obtain leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal. This appeal is under s.118 of the District Court Act.
The 'Notice for Leave to Appeal' under the District Court Act is set out in Form 27 [PDF, 158KB].
Similarly, if you are filing the 'Notice of application for leave to appeal' from the judgment of a district court judge after one calendar month has passed, you may still be able to obtain the right to appeal. However, you must also file a 'Notice of application for extension of time' within which to appeal, under the District Court Act. This Notice is set out in Form 29 [PDF, 136KB].
Again, you will have to write very good reasons to justify why the Court of Appeal should hear your appeal. You will need to be prepared to argue your actual appeal grounds at the extension hearing.