Diference of criminal apeal. motion and revision

CRIMINAL MOTIONS

Various applications may be made by either the accused or the Public Prosecutor either pending or in the course of criminal proceedings heard by the Supreme Court.  The applications commonly arising in this respect include:
• bail pending trial or appeal
• reduction of the amount of bail
• extension of time to file the Notice of Appeal or the Petition of Appeal
• quashing an order made by the Subordinate Courts
• transfer of a case from the Subordinate Courts to the High Court
• reservation of a question of law to the Court of Appeal by way of a Criminal Reference
• request for production of papers and documents.

Such applications are made by way of Criminal Motions.  In general, a Criminal Motion may be filed at any time.  If, however, the Criminal Motion is for a reservation of a question of law for the Court of Appeal's determination, it must be filed within 1 month of the date of the High Court decision which gave rise to the question of law (s 60(2) of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act). 

Criminal Revisions 

In addition to its original and appellate criminal jurisdiction, the High Court also has revisionary jurisdiction in respect of all criminal proceedings and matters dealt with by the Subordinate Courts (s 23 of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act).  For instance, should there be any irregularities in the decision made by the Subordinate Courts, the High Court may, on a Criminal Revision, amend those errors even though no appeal has been filed against the decision of the Subordinate Courts.  The procedure relating to Criminal Revisions is set out in ss 266-270 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The papers to be filed in a petition for Criminal Revision are:
• Petition for Revision
• Affidavit in support of Petition
• Notes of Evidence (from the Subordinate Courts)
• Documentary Exhibits (from the Subordinate Courts).
No stamp fees are payable for the above documents.

Hope the above information was useful.