Lawyers for disgraced pedophile priest Cardinal George Pell will try to convince senior members of the judiciary their client was treated unreasonably during a jury trial which found him guilty of molesting choirboys.
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The jailed 77-year-old does not have to be present in Melbourne's Court of Appeal on Wednesday but arrived about 8am.
Pell is serving at least three years and eight months behind bars for his crimes.
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The former senior Vatican official has continued to deny sexually abusing two choirboys in the 1990s which led to convictions for sexually penetrating a child under 16 and four counts of committing an indecent act with a child.
His legal team, led by Sydney specialist appeals barrister Bret Walker SC, will argue the jury verdicts were "unreasonable" on three grounds.
His first argument will be the jury could not have been satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Pell was guilty on the word of the complainant against the "unchallenged" evidence of more than 20 witnesses who supported the cardinal.
Secondly, that Judge Peter Kidd erred when he did not allow a video during closing arguments by Pell's barrister Robert Richter QC. They claim the video demonstrated the offending would have been impossible.
Thirdly, Pell's lawyers will argue there was a "fundamental irregularity" in the trial because the cardinal did not plead guilty or not guilty before the jury.
The appeal will be heard by the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Justice Anne Ferguson, president of the Court of Appeal Justice Chris Maxwell, and Justice Mark Weinberg.
It will be streamed live online.
A decision on the appeal could be weeks or months away and if unsuccessful, Pell has declared he won't appeal the sentence.
Support groups have warned the appeal could be traumatic for people who have experienced abuse.
"With this appeal, there is a significant risk that many survivors will be triggered as a result, and thrown back into their own trauma, strong emotions and reactions," Blue Knot Foundation president Cathy Kezelman said.
Pell was sentenced to a maximum six-year jail term by a judge who noted the cardinal could well die in prison.
Australian Associated Press
