If you have to go to court for any reason, you’ll hope that justice is served. Whether you are guilty or innocent of the offence you’re charged with, you’ll hope that the right decision will be made. This is what courts are there for, after all. However, sometimes those who are charged with something may find that the trial or court date doesn’t go their way, and they are unhappy with the outcome, whether that’s because they think the sentence is too harsh or because they don’t feel they were heard properly, or because they didn’t actually do anything wrong.
The good news is that, even if this does happen, there are routes to go down that will ensure you can make your thoughts known. Read on to find out what you can do if you don’t agree with a court’s decision.
Appeal
If there has been a mistake during a courtroom process, you will be able to appeal that decision in many cases. You might feel that:
- Not all the evidence was taken into account
- Evidence was ignored
- The law was misinterpreted
Plus there are there are other reasons too. If you intend to appeal the ruling, you need an expert appellate attorney from Reeves Law STL. Your attorney will be able to give you all the advice you need, including whether they feel that an appeal will be worthwhile. Listen to their advice, as they are the experts. A failed appeal can have a detrimental impact on you; you may have to pay additional court fees, plus the fact that the original ruling will still be in place.
Permission
If you want to appeal, you will need to get permission to do so from the court. If the judge who oversaw your case refuses, you can apply at a higher level in a different court. One thing you must bear in mind is that time will most certainly be of the essence; you will normally only have twenty-one days to lodge an appeal; otherwise, the original ruling will stand, no matter what mistakes (if any) have been made.
Assuming your application for your appeal is accepted, you will be given a date for an appeal hearing. At this time, your attorney can start working on your case to give you the best chance of succeeding.
Change of circumstance
Another way to challenge a court’s ruling without appealing the decision is to show that there has been a positive change in your situation. If this is the case, you can apply to vary the court order or even discharge it all together.
Positive changes can include seeing a therapist, getting help for any kind of dependency, moving into a parent’s home, getting a new job, and so on. You will need to provide evidence of this to the court, and you will also need to explain why those changes make a difference, so much so that the court’s initial decision will need to be changed.
