An "appeal" was a procedure in
English law
English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures.
Principal elements of English law
Although the common law has, historically, be ...
to bring about a
prosecution by a private party of an individual accused of a heinous crime.
Generally
"
n appeal
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
is derived from the French, ‘
appeller ’...which signifies to call upon, summon or challenge one; and not...the same as the ordinary sense of ‘appeal’
rom an adverse litigative result
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* R ...
” A private individual (the "appellor") would accuse another (the "appellee") of a crime, without the need for proceedings to be brought by the
crown. It probably descended from the system of
weregild where private pecuniary satisfaction was paid to the party injured, or his relations, to expiate an enormous offense. Appeals were among the legal proceedings for which
trial by combat was available.
An appeal could be used to accuse a
subject
Subject ( la, subiectus "lying beneath") may refer to:
Philosophy
*''Hypokeimenon'', or ''subiectum'', in metaphysics, the "internal", non-objective being of a thing
**Subject (philosophy), a being that has subjective experiences, subjective cons ...
of
high treason. It could also be used by someone when either they or a close relation had been the victim of a crime, such as
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
,
rape or
arson
Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
. Unlike crown prosecutions, if a person was convicted, the crown did not have the option of a
pardon
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...
.
An acquittal following an appeal prevented any further prosecution for the same offence (the doctrine of
double jeopardy), just as if the proceedings had been brought by the crown (by
indictment). The person bringing the appeal would be punished with one year's imprisonment, and pay a fine to the king, besides restitution of damages to the accused.
Appeals were likely available in American states pursuant to common law incorporation statutes, but may no longer be available.
Appeals were abolished in
England following the 1817 case of ''
Ashford v Thornton
''Ashford v Thornton'' (1818) 106 ER 149 is an English criminal case in the Court of King's Bench which upheld the right of the defendant to trial by battle on a private appeal from an acquittal for murder.
In 1817, Abraham Thornton was charge ...
'' where an appeal was withdrawn following the defendant requesting a trial by battle.
See also
*
Private prosecution A private prosecution is a criminal law, criminal proceeding initiated by an individual private citizen or private organisation (such as a prosecution association) instead of by a public prosecutor who represents the State (polity), state. Private p ...
References
Criminal law
Prosecution
English law
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