1. Can a lawyer sign a criminal appeal on behalf of the client? 1. If the defendant is dissatisfied with the first-instance judgment of the People's Court and files an appeal, with the consent of the defendant, the lawyer, as a defender, can file an appeal on behalf of the defendant. When a person writes an appeal petition, the defendant must issue a power of attorney to the lawyer. 2. Legal basis: Article 227 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China. Defendants, private prosecutors and their legal representatives are dissatisfied with the judgments and rulings of the first instance of local people's courts at all levels. Have the right to appeal in writing or orally to the people's court at the next higher level. The defendant's defender and close relatives may appeal with the defendant's consent. The parties to the incidental civil litigation and their legal representatives may appeal against the incidental civil litigation part of the first-instance judgments and rulings of the local people's courts at all levels. The defendant's right to appeal shall not be deprived of any excuse. Article 28 of the "Lawyers Law of the People's Republic of China" Lawyers may engage in the following businesses: (1) Accepting entrustments from natural persons, legal persons or other organizations to serve as legal advisors; (2) Accepting appointments from parties to civil cases and administrative cases entrust, act as an agent, and participate in litigation; (3) Accept entrustment from criminal suspects or defendants in criminal cases or accept assignments from legal aid institutions in accordance with the law, serve as defenders, and accept entrustments from private prosecutors in private prosecution cases, victims in public prosecution cases, or their close relatives , act as an agent and participate in litigation; (4) Accept entrustment and represent appeals in various litigation cases; (5) Accept entrustment and participate in mediation and arbitration activities; (6) Accept entrustment and provide non-litigation legal services; (7) Answer questions Legal inquiries, writing of litigation documents and other documents related to legal matters.

2. What is the difference between an appeal and a complaint? The main difference between the two is: an appeal will inevitably lead to a second instance procedure; but a complaint is only an important source of material for initiating trial supervision procedures. Whether it can trigger trial supervision procedures must be decided by the judiciary. The trial supervision process can only begin after the agency reviews the appeal materials, confirms that the effective judgment is indeed erroneous, and meets the conditions for a new trial stipulated by law. Secondly, the filing of an appeal will inevitably prevent the first-instance judgment and ruling from taking legal effect; the same is not true of an appeal. The filing of an appeal cannot stop the execution of the judgment and ruling. Complaints and appeals also have the following differences: 1. Different objects. The object of appeal is a judgment or ruling that has become legally effective, while the object of appeal is a first-instance judgment or ruling that has not yet taken legal effect. 2. The scope of the subject is different. The subject of the appeal is the parties and their Legal representative and close relatives; the subject of the appeal is the defendant, private prosecutor, parties to the incidental civil litigation and their legal representatives, the defendant’s defense and close relatives with the consent of the defendant 3. The agency that accepts the complaint is different. This includes both the original trial People's Court and its superior People's Court, as well as the People's Procuratorates corresponding to the above-mentioned people's courts at all levels; and the organs that accept appeals can only be the original trial People's Court and its superior People's Court. 4. Different deadlines for appeals to the Criminal Procedure Law There is no prescribed time limit, but the latest judicial interpretation states that the time limit for appeals is generally 2 years after the execution of the sentence; while the appeal law stipulates a time limit of 10 days for appeals against civil rulings, 15 days for appeals against judgments, and no time limit for appeals and applications for retrial. The application should be filed within two years from the date of the judgment taking effect. 5. Different Consequences Appeal is only a source of materials for filing trial supervision procedures and cannot stop the execution of effective judgments and rulings; and appeals will inevitably trigger second-instance procedures and lead to first-instance judgments and rulings not being effective after two If the parties concerned are still dissatisfied after the case has been heard by the People's Court at the second level, the case will be handled as an appeal. If the case is handled by the People's Court at the second level and the party still insists on appealing without new evidence, the People's Court will no longer accept the case. The above is the content compiled by the editor. According to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law, the defendant's defender and close relatives can appeal with the consent of the defendant. As the defendant's defender, a lawyer can file an appeal on the defendant's behalf and write an appeal petition on his behalf with the defendant's consent. The defendant needs to issue a power of attorney to the lawyer. I hope the above content can be helpful to you. If you have other questions, you can click the button below for consultation, or consult a professional lawyer.