Appellate Jurisdiction

The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal in the country, and a person dissatisfied with a High Court's decision can, in principle, appeal to it. In practice, though, the High Court must first certify that the case is fit for appeal — usually meaning it raises a serious question about the interpretation of a law or of the Constitution itself.

Criminal cases carry a special rule: if a lower court has sentenced a person to death, an appeal to the High Court or the Supreme Court follows automatically, without needing anyone's certification. And even where a High Court has refused to certify a case as fit for appeal, the Supreme Court can still decide, on its own authority, to admit that appeal anyway — this is the "special leave" power referred to earlier. …