A wrongful conviction or unjust sentence can be life-changing — for you and your family. We are here to help you challenge it.

SGK's Appeals Department has decades of experience acting across all appellate levels, in some of the most complex criminal cases in England and Wales. Our work spans technical and scientific expert evidence, historic miscarriages of justice, multi-agency failures, and fresh evidence appeals.

The department is led by Claire Bostock, Partner and experienced appeals specialist.

We support clients at every stage of the process and can provide independent "second opinion" advice where you have already been advised against appealing.

We advise on:

• The appellate system and how it works
• The law and procedure governing appeals against conviction and sentence
• Out-of-time appeals to the Court of Appeal Criminal Division (CACD) and whether arguable grounds exist in your case
• Applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC)
• Appeals against magistrates' court decisions
• Challenging guilty pleas

Case types we handle include:

• Homicide - murder and manslaughter, including self-defence, diminished responsibility, loss of control, and joint enterprise
• Cases requiring fresh evidence - psychiatric, neuro-psychiatric, psychological, forensic (including DNA), and other post-trial expert evidence
• Abuse of process
• Cases involving inadequate representation by the trial team
• Guilty plea challenges
• Sentence appeals
• Cases involving particularly vulnerable clients, including women, children, and young people