After the verdict is announced, the defendant has three options to respond:
- (Irrevocably) waive right to appeal
- Making a notice of appeal
- Do not make a declaration for the time being; a three-day cooling-off period comes into effect
A waiver of the right to appeal by an unrepresented defendant in a proceeding without a lawyer is not final. In this case, it is possible to file an appeal within three days.
After making a notice of appeal, a copy of the judgment and the transcript of the main hearing are served. The 4-week period for filing the appeal begins with this service.
The specific remedy that can be sought depends on the circumstances that one wishes to challenge, on the one hand, and on the court that ruled in the first instance, on the other.
Thus, a so-called full appeal can be lodged against judgments of the district court and the regional court as a single judge. This can be used to claim the existence of certain statutory grounds for nullity as well as to challenge the verdict of guilt or punishment, and private-law claims.
Judgments of courts composed of lay judges may be challenged by means of an action for annulment or an appeal. An essential difference to the appeal against the judgments by single judge courts is that an appeal against the verdict on guilt is not possible. An appeal against the verdict on guilt can only be used to challenge the assessment of evidence in proceedings before a single judge – this is not possible before a court of lay assessors or a jury.
