Submission

APPEAL, alongside the Criminal Appeals Lawyers Association (CALA), Youth Practitioners Association (YPA) and the National Association for Youth Justice (NAYJ), raise urgent concerns about the Courts and Tribunals Bill. The proposal to abolish the automatic right of appeal from the Magistrates’ and Youth Courts would dismantle a crucial safeguard that protects people, especially children and unrepresented defendants, from wrongful convictions and unfair sentences. The current system is simple, swift, and effective, with a significant proportion of appeals succeeding. Replacing it with a permission‑to‑appeal test would force individuals to identify legal errors without access to proper records or transcripts, creating barriers.

We are also deeply concerned by the Bill’s expansion of Crown Court powers, including the ability to substitute new convictions and impose “loss of time” orders, both of which risk deterring people from challenging unsafe decisions. Combined with pressures on an already overstretched legal aid system, these changes threaten to leave many miscarriages of justice uncorrected. With the Law Commission currently reviewing the appeals framework, it is wrong to push through reforms of this scale now. APPEAL believes the longstanding right to a full rehearing must be protected. It is a vital safeguard within our justice system, and its loss would disproportionately harm the most vulnerable.