Short answer. No. The Rules state it directly: the accused need not be present in court during the hearing of the appeal. Appellate review works on the record, the briefs and counsel's argument, not on the appellant's attendance — and appeals of accused who are under detention are given precedence in their disposition.
What the law says
The accused need not be present in court during the hearing of the appeal.
Rule 124, Section 9 — Prompt disposition of appeals. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Appeals of accused who are under detention shall be given precedence in their disposition over other appeals.
Rule 124, Section 9 — Prompt disposition of appeals. Read the full provision →
The rule says it in one sentence
Rule 124 closes the question without qualification: the accused need not be present in court during the hearing of the appeal. This surprises people whose experience of the case so far has been trial, where the accused's presence loomed over every setting. The appellate stage is different in kind. The Court of Appeals is not receiving testimony or observing witnesses; it is reviewing what already happened below. Nothing in the hearing of the appeal requires the appellant's body in the room, and the Rules refuse to pretend otherwise.
Why appellate review does not need you there
An appeal is decided on the record of the trial — the transcripts, the exhibits, the judgment — and on the briefs in which each side argues what the trial court got right or wrong. Where oral argument is heard at all, it is counsel's work, a discussion of legal points between lawyers and justices. The accused contributed his part at trial, where the evidence was made; on appeal there is no new version of events to give. For an appellant working abroad, confined, or simply far from the court, the rule means the appeal proceeds at full strength without the cost and risk of attendance.
Detained appellants come first in the queue
The same section carries a scheduling command: appeals of accused who are under detention shall be given precedence in their disposition over other appeals, and the court shall hear and decide the appeal at the earliest practicable time with due regard to the rights of the parties. The logic is humane arithmetic — a detained appellant is serving time under a judgment that may yet be reversed, so every month of delay is a month potentially served in error. If your relative is appealing from detention, this precedence is worth knowing: it is the Rules' own answer to the fear that the case will simply wait its turn behind everything else.
Absence from the hearing is not absence from the appeal
Not having to attend does not mean having nothing to do. The appeal lives or dies on deadlines and paperwork — the briefs must be filed on time, and counsel must be able to reach you when decisions or notices arrive. Keep your address and contact details current with your lawyer and the court, respond promptly when instructions or verifications are needed, and if you are the family of a detained appellant, keep the line between counsel and the detention facility open. The hearing may not need the accused; the case still does.