Anyone convicted in criminal proceedings has only a few days to challenge the judgment. An appeal on points of law (Revision) is the legal remedy by which a higher court examines whether legal errors were committed in the previous proceedings – whether in the evaluation of evidence, the application of substantive criminal law, or the procedural sequence itself. Unlike an appeal on points of fact and law (Berufung), a Revision does not open a new trial on the facts: no witnesses are re-examined, and no new evidence is gathered. The
For those affected, this means a double burden: they must react within one week of the announcement of the judgment, without knowing the full written reasons for the judgment at that time – and for the subsequent statement of grounds for appeal, they require an experienced attorney for criminal appeals who has a secure command of the highly formalized requirements for procedural and substantive complaints. Even small formal errors lead to an appeal being dismissed as inadmissible without the court even deciding on the merits of the case.
Stirnweiss | Brenner Rechtsanwälte represents clients nationwide before the Higher Regional Courts (OLG) and the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) from their offices in Stuttgart and Konstanz. Our specialist attorneys for criminal law prepare the statement of grounds for appeal in the legally prescribed form and first secure the filing of the appeal to preserve the deadline before the written grounds are worked out in detail.
On this page, you will learn what distinguishes a Revision from a Berufung, which deadlines must be strictly observed, how the procedure works in practice, and what costs are involved.
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The written statement of grounds for appeal follows thereafter: you have one month from the service of the full written judgment to present procedural and substantive complaints in the legally prescribed form.
If the one-week deadline is missed, the judgment becomes final and binding – subsequent remedy is only possible in narrowly limited exceptional cases. Therefore, contact a criminal defense attorney immediately after the announcement of the judgment.
Anyone who misses the one-week deadline for filing an appeal loses their legal remedy definitively – the judgment becomes final and binding.
Many appeals fail not on the merits, but on the form of the statement of grounds – this is precisely where it is decided whether a legal error will be considered at all.
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A Revision is the legal remedy against a judgment by which it is exclusively reviewed whether the previous proceedings and the judgment itself are free of legal errors – a new taking of evidence does not take place.
Depending on the court of first instance, either the Higher Regional Court (OLG) or the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) is responsible for the Revision. The BGH is never a court of first instance, but is exclusively concerned with appeals on points of law – it is therefore also referred to as a “pure appellate instance.” In contrast, the OLG functions predominantly as an appellate instance for first-instance judgments of the Regional Court and against Berufung judgments of the Regional Court.
In terms of content, a Revision distinguishes between two types of complaints: The procedural complaint objects that the court violated procedural rules, for example, during the collection of evidence or the composition of the court. The substantive complaint asserts that substantive criminal law was incorrectly applied to the established facts. Both types of complaints must be presented in the statement of grounds for appeal in a legally prescribed, strict form – formal deficiencies regularly lead to the dismissal of the appeal as inadmissible without an examination of the content.
A Berufung leads to a completely new trial on the facts with a new taking of evidence, while a Revision does not re-examine the facts but exclusively reviews the judgment for legal errors.
You can find a detailed classification of the individual procedural stages in our Guide to the Criminal Process.
You must file the appeal within one week after the announcement of the judgment – regardless of whether the written grounds for the judgment are already available. The statement of grounds for appeal can only be submitted after the full judgment has been served – you have an additional month for this.
If the deadline is missed, the judgment becomes final and binding. A subsequent restoration of the status quo ante is only possible if it can be proven that the failure to meet the deadline was not your fault – for example, in the case of serious illness. Do not rely on this and contact us immediately after the announcement of the judgment.
If the judgment is reversed, a new trial regularly takes place before a different judicial body of the court of first instance. A different defense strategy can then also be pursued there, for example, by re-examining witnesses.
You need a criminal defense attorney specialized in appeals immediately after the announcement of the judgment – not only when the written grounds for the judgment are available. According to § 345 StPO, the statement of grounds for appeal requires the signature of a defense attorney; given the strict formal requirements for procedural and substantive complaints, an experienced attorney for criminal appeals is crucial for success.
This can only be assessed based on the specific judgment and the case file. Prospects of success exist primarily if there are demonstrable procedural errors or if the court has recognizably applied substantive criminal law incorrectly. Providing a blanket success rate would be unprofessional – we examine each case individually.
The costs of an appeal depend on the effort involved in inspecting the files, examining the judgment, and preparing the statement of grounds for appeal, and are agreed upon individually or billed according to the German Lawyers’ Remuneration Act (RVG). Since the statement of grounds for appeal must be prepared with particular care in the legally prescribed form, the effort is often higher than for a first-instance defense.
Should you have legal expenses insurance, we will work with you to check whether and to what extent the costs of the appellate defense are covered.
No. A Revision is directed against a judgment that is not yet final and must be filed within one week. Reopening of proceedings, on the other hand, concerns a judgment that is already final and binding and is tied to completely different, significantly narrower requirements.
