The New Post-Appeal Review Provisions in Victoria: How Appealing Are They Really?

In 2019, the Victorian Parliament adopted the Justice Legislation Amendment (Criminal Appeals) Act 2019 (Vic), affording convicted persons a second or subsequent appeal in limited circumstances. The new provisions aim to strike a balance between finality in criminal matters and the correction of substantial miscarriages of justice that become uncovered after existing appeals are exhausted. This article examines the emergence of this new procedure in the context of disturbing findings made by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission and the Royal Commission into the Management of Prison Informers, which revealed systemic misconduct by various actors in the criminal justice system, including Victoria Police. An analysis of the early operation of the new regime shows that it guards effectively against frivolous appeals but that the underlying challenges associated with the uncovering of miscarriages of justice remain to be addressed.