What happens once charges are filed: the three authorities, the three stages, realistic timelines, and the ten-day appeal window after a first-instance verdict.
Once a case is charged, it moves through three authorities — police investigate, the procuratorate reviews and prosecutes, the court tries. Each stage has its own deadline and its own points where a defense lawyer can still push. Most foreign-related cases resolve earlier than families expect, but the ones that reach trial follow a predictable path. After a first-instance judgment the appeal window is ten days, and where only the defense appeals the second-instance court may not increase the sentence. These guides cover what happens next after charges, and how to judge whether an appeal is worth filing.
Ten days to appeal, what 'appeal without added punishment' means, and how to evaluate whether an appeal is worth it.
Read the Guide →Three authorities, three stages — what each one decides, and where a defense lawyer can still move the case.
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