Jailed former New South Wales MP Eddie Obeid has again been refused bail, pending an appeal against his conviction for misconduct in public office.

Obeid was last week sentenced to five years in jail with a non-parole period of three years for lobbying a bureaucrat about cafes at Circular Quay, without disclosing his financial interest in them.

The former powerbroker was found guilty in June of misconduct in public office.

Appearing via video link from Silverwater Jail dressed in prison greens, Obeid heard he would spend Christmas behind bars, with his bail bid refused and his appeal likely to be heard in March.

His barrister, Guy Reynolds SC, had earlier told the Court of Criminal Appeal that there were two elements to the appeal which included the duties of parliamentarians and the disclosure regulations.

He told the court that the duties of a politician were broad and questioned whether the duties referred to during the trial were correct.

Former NSW minister Eddie Obeid was found guilty of misconduct in public office. ( AAP: David Moir )

"Ultimately the way the duty was formulated at trial goes to the root of this whole case," Mr Reynolds said.

"Duty put at trial was not good in law.

"[There are] grave doubts about this whole conviction. Your honours should be gravely concerned about it."

The Crown's barrister, Michael McHugh SC, told the court: "[It is] unhelpful to talk about duty. This case was about conduct".

In refusing bail, Chief Justice Tom Bathurst said the matter should have been raised before the trial judge.

He said there were no special circumstances to grant bail.

If an appeal against the conviction was filed promptly it would be heard on March 15, he said.

Last week, Premier Mike Baird said the Government would move to strip Obeid of his annual parliamentary pension and work to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded legal assistance that was provided to him in this particular case.