The authors use a data sample collected from the Ontario Court of Appeal minute books between 1983 and 1987 to analyze how appeals move through the province\u27s highest court. Criminal and, chiefly, sentence appeals dominate the Court\u27s agenda. Hearing times-the duration of argument and rendering of judgment-are shorter than commonly believed, most often lasting less than twenty minutes. Elapsed times-the period between end of trial and beginning of hearing-are, on average, 77 per cent longer for civil than criminal appeals, 52 per cent longer for defendant than crown appeals, and 23 per cent longer for fall than spring appeals. Elapsed times are also compared with data on United States appeal courts, and the use of appellate case-flow management is considered
