Time Limit, Procedures, and Right to Appeal in the Criminal Procedure Code 2015

1. Persons Having the Right to Appeal

In addition to the defendant, victim, and their representatives, the following individuals also have the right to appeal:

- Defense attorneys have the right to appeal to protect the interests of individuals under 18 years old, persons with mental or physical disabilities whom they are defending.- Civil plaintiffs, civil defendants, their representatives have the right to appeal such parts of the judgment or decision related to compensation.- Persons with related interests and obligations to the case, their representatives have the right to appeal parts of the judgment or decision related to their interests and obligations.- Persons protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the victim, litigants who are under 18 years old, or those with mental or physical disabilities have the right to appeal parts of the judgment or decision related to the interests and obligations of the persons they are protecting.- Persons declared innocent by the court have the right to appeal against the reasoning on which the first-instance judgment has been based to determine their innocence.

2. Appeal Procedures:

- Appellants must submit their appeal petitions to the court that conducted the first-instance trial or to the appellate court.- For defendants in detention, the detention facility's warden must ensure that the defendant can exercise the right to appeal, receive the appeal petition, and transfer it to the court of first instance that issued the appealed judgment or decision.- Appellants can directly state their intention to appeal to the court that conducted the first-instance trial or to the appellate court. The court must make a record of the appeal in accordance with Article 133 of the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code.

The appellate court that has made a record of the appeal or received the appeal petition must send the record or petition to the first-instance court for further processing as per the general regulations.

3. Contents of the Appeal Petition

- Date, month, and year of making the appeal petition;- Full name and address of the appellant;- Reasons and requests of the appellant;- Signature or fingerprint of the appellant.

Attached to the appeal petition or presented directly are supplementary evidence, documents, items (if any) to prove the basis of the appeal.

4. Time Limit for Appeal

- 15 days: for first-instance judgments, counted from the date of pronouncement. For defendants and litigants absent at the trial, the time limit for appeal is counted from the date they receive the judgment or the date the judgment is posted in accordance with the law.- 07 days: for first-instance decisions, counted from the date the person entitled to appeal receives the decision.

The date of appeal is determined as follows:

- In case the appeal petition is sent via postal services, the date of appeal is the postmark date at the sending location;- In case the appeal petition is submitted through the warden of the detention facility, the date of appeal is the date the warden receives the petition. The warden must clearly note the date of receipt and sign the confirmation on the petition;- In case the appellant submits the appeal petition directly to the court, the date of appeal is the date the court receives the petition. If the appellant directly states their intention to appeal at the court, the date of appeal is the date the court makes the record of the appeal.

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