Quality of Investigations at the Provincial Courts of Appeal
Article 251 – Once a file reaches a Province Court of Appeal and in the existence of numerous branches, the file will be initially referred to one of the branches by the head of the first branch. The branch that receives the file will review it in turn, unless otherwise advised either by law or by the head of the first branch of the Court of Appeal.
Article 252 – If the court finds the initial investigation incomplete or finds it necessary to call the parties of the claim in order to review their statements, defenses and other expressed reasons, the court will summon them with an appointment. Both parties to the claim can either appear in person or introduce an attorney. Either way, the absence of the person or failure to introduce an attorney does not prevent the investigation.
Article 253 – Summons, arrest and review of the statements in a Court of Appeal is processed according to the regulations applied to the Trial Courts.
Article 254 – The investigation and examination of the venue is done by the head of the Court of Appeal or by one of the assistants following his order. If the venue is located in another city within the same province, the Court of Appeal can request that District Court to implement it. In case the venue is located in the jurisdiction of another province, the Court of Appeal will provide the court of that province with a legal representation to perform the task. Application of the note for Article 59 of this act is obligatory.
Article 255 – Whenever the Province Court of Appeal deems necessary the presence of an accused while s/he is in prison, he will issue the order to the head of the prison or detention to deliver the accused. If the prison or the detention center is located in another jurisdiction, the accused will be temporarily transferred to the closest prison by the order of the court.
Article 256 – If there is an appeal on an issued sentence, while there has been no bail obtained from the accused or the bail does not conform to the losses of the private plaintiff, the Court of Appeal may collect a sufficient bail based on the reasons the plaintiff adduces to convince the court to increased the bail of the accused.
Article 257 – The Court of Appeal will decide on the appealed sentences as follows:
A- If the sentence is established based on the laws and the evidence within the file, the case will be returned to the issuing court.
B- If the sentence is breached by the Court of Appeal, or if the sentence is issued by an incompetent court, or it is issued without following legal procedures, regardless of the reasons and the defense of the parties, in such a way that failure to meet the above mentioned items is so important that the issued sentence is considered either illegal, against Sharia or in contradiction with laws. In this case, the Court will proceed as follows:
1- The Court of Appeal will void the initial sentence and will issue an appropriate sentence if the act for which the accused has been condemned, if proven, is not a crime or cannot be tried following public amnesty or other legalities; or the Court of Appeal can prove acquittal of the accused for any reason even if the condemned person has never requested for an appeal. If the condemned person is in detention, he will be immediately freed.
2- If the issued sentence is a writ and is voided for any reason, it will be returned to the issuing court for further investigation and the court is bound to review it.
3- If the sentence is voided because of the incompetency of the issuing court, the Court of Appeal will refer the case to the proper court.
4- If a Court of Appeal recognizes the tribunal sentence against the Sharia’ or legal frameworks, it will void the sentence while mentioning the reasons and legal principles. Once the essentials are reviewed, the Court of Appeal intends to compose the sentence. The issued sentence is definite, except for the cases mentioned in Article 235.
Article 258 – The Court of Appeal cannot increase a suspended sentence of a tribunal sentence, except in cases for which the established punishment is less than the legal punishment, and that is the reason why either the appellate or the mentioned authorities in Article 235 have protested. In this case, the Court of Appeal will correct the tribunal sentence according to the punishment stipulated in the law.
Article 259 – The Court of Appeal is bound to establish the sentence once the review is complete, unless composing the sentence is subject to some initial arrangement for which there is only one week to prepare.
Article 260 – If the Court of Appeal condemns the accused, and the accused or his or her attorney were never present at the trials, and have never defended or objected to the bill, the sentence established by the Court of Appeal can be requested for an appeal and review in the same Court within 20 days of notifying the accused or his or her attorney; the issued sentence is definite.
