AFP - Switzerland's top criminal court said Tuesday that it was likely to rule in two to three weeks' time on film-maker Roman Polanski's appeal for bail.

Polanski's lawyers lodged the appeal at the Federal Criminal Tribunal on November 3 after an earlier bail request was turned down.

"A decision on the matter will probably be issued in the next two to three weeks," said court official Mascia Gregori Al-Barafi in an e-mail response to questions about the appeal.

He can make a final appeal to Switzerland' supreme court if the ruling is unfavourable, she confirmed.

The 76 year-old French-Polish director is being held in Switzerland pending a decision on US extradition request on three decades-old child sex charges.

His lawyers are also contesting the extradition, setting the scene for a lengthy legal battle.

Swiss authorities turned down Polanski's most recent appeal to be freed on bail nearly three weeks ago, saying the risk that the French-Polish movie director would escape the country was "still too high."

The director of "Rosemary's Baby", "Chinatown" and "The Pianist" has been regarded as a fugitive by US authorities since he fled the United States in 1978 after admitting to having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

He was detained by Swiss police acting on a US extradition warrant when he flew into Zurich to collect an award at the Swiss city's film festival late September.

Polanski's lawyers are due to ask a California appeals court on December 10 to dismiss the child sex conviction against Polanski, legal sources have said.