This chapter examines the appeals system, the most important purpose of which from the legal system’s point of view is the development and clarification of the law. Reviewing the law in this way allows the higher courts to exert some control over the lower courts and adds much to an understanding of the forces shaping the appeals system. From the point of view of litigants, appeals offer a chance to challenge a result they are unhappy with. The chapter discusses restrictions on appeal rights; challenging jury verdicts; due process appeals; post-appeal review of convictions by the Criminal Cases Review Commission; miscarriages of justice, prosecution appeals; and double jeopardy and retrials.
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12. Appeals, reviews, and retrials
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17. Legal impediments to the exercise of criminal jurisdiction
Antonio Cassese, Paola Gaeta, Laurel Baig, Mary Fan, Christopher Gosnell, and Alex Whiting
This chapter discusses the obstacles that may hamper or jeopardize criminal proceedings for international crimes. These include rules granting amnesty for broad categories of crimes; statutes of limitation; the prohibition of double jeopardy (the principle of ne bis idem), whereby a person may not be brought to trial twice for the same offence; and international rules on personal immunities.
