Cour de Cassation
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What is the Cour de Cassation?
The Cour de Cassation, or "Court of Cassation," is the highest court of criminal and civil appeal in France. Established during the French Revolution, it ensures the uniform interpretation of law across French courts.
The court examines lower court decisions solely on their correct application of the law, without retrying facts. It comprises a criminal chamber and five civil chambers and is headed by a premier president and a chief prosecutor.
Appeals go to the relevant chamber, which decides whether to hear them. If the court finds a decision does not uphold, it is quashed, and the case goes back to another court of the same rank for a new trial.
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Where does the Cour de Cassation fit in the French legal system?
The Cour de Cassation is the highest court of appeal in France's judicial system, with the authority to overturn decisions made by lower courts. It ensures that all French courts interpret the law uniformly but does not rule on the constitutionality of laws. The Cour de Cassation includes a criminal chamber, five civil chambers, a premier president, and a chief prosecutor. All courts are subject to the control of the Court of Cassation, as are the specialized professional courts. The court assesses whether the law has been correctly interpreted; if it finds that this is not the case, it refers the case back to a lower court.
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What types of cases does the Cour de Cassation review?
The Cour de Cassation is the highest court of criminal and civil appeal in France. It reviews decisions of lower courts to ensure the law was applied correctly, but it does not retry cases or deal with the facts. The court features a criminal chamber and five civil chambers that address financial, commercial, and social problems.
The Court of Cassation does not determine whether a particular law itself is constitutional. However, the court does examine judgments from lower courts to assess whether the law has been correctly interpreted. If it finds that this is not the case, it refers the case back to a lower court.
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How does a case reach the Cour de Cassation?
The Cour de Cassation is the highest court of appeal in France. It does not retry cases based on facts but ensures lower courts correctly interpret the law.
Petitions for appeal are sent to the relevant chamber, which decides whether to hear them. The chief prosecutor also watches for questionable lower-court decisions and can recommend reviews. If the court disagrees with the lower court's decision, it annuls it and sends the case to a similar-level court for a retrial. If this court opposes the Cour de Cassation's decision, the case goes back to the Cour de Cassation.
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What decisions can the Cour de Cassation make on a case?
The Cour de Cassation, France's highest court of appeal, primarily ensures that lower courts correctly interpret and apply the law. It does not retry cases or deal with factual matters.
The Cour de Cassation can quash (casser) lower court decisions if they misapply the law, after which the case is sent back to a court of equal standing for a retrial. The procureur gĂ©nĂ©ral may recommend reviews of questionable lower court decisions. If the lower court opposes the Cour de Cassation's decision, the case returns to the higher court. If the high court quashes the decision again, a third court of the same rank as the first must conform to the Cour de Cassationâs ruling on the specific legal point.
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Why is the role of the Cour de Cassation important in ensuring justice in France?
The Cour de Cassation plays a vital role in the French legal system by ensuring the uniform interpretation of the law across all French courts. As the highest court of criminal and civil appeal, it focuses on whether lower courts have correctly applied the law, without retrying facts or dealing with the case itself. The Cour de Cassation can quash lower court decisions if they misapply the law, promoting consistency and fairness. This function ensures that the law is applied uniformly, contributing significantly to justice in France.
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Cour de Cassation, (French: âCourt of Cassation,â or âAbrogationâ), the highest court of criminal and civil appeal in France, with the power to quash (casser) the decisions of lower courts. The high court considers decisions only from the point of view of whether the lower court has applied the law correctly; it does not deal with the facts of a case, nor does it retry it. The appeals courts (see appeal) hear cases on matters of fact and retry them. The aim of the Cour de Cassation is rather to ensure a uniformity of the interpretation of the law among all the French courts. It does not, on the other hand, determine whether a particular law itself is constitutional, as do the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Japan, and the Constitutional Court of Germany.
The Cour de Cassation was instituted during the French Revolutionary period at the end of the 18th century, but its roots go back to the Middle Ages, when the kingâs courts gave relief to those who felt they had been denied justice. From the 16th through the 18th century, appeals for cassation of court decisions were dealt with by the Privy Council section of the kingâs council. By the late 17th century the councilâs powers were limited to voiding decisions that violated the law. The spirit of the French Revolution reinforced this limitation, for the French, by preventing the judiciary from voiding the work of the legislature, in effect refused to allow one branch of government to infringe on the domain of any other. This practice embodied a stricter interpretation of the doctrine of separation of powers than that provided for in the United States Constitution, which allowed the judiciary certain powers to limit the actions of the executive and the legislature.
After 1967 the Cour de Cassation had one criminal chamber and five civil chambers, including those that dealt specifically with financial and commercial problems or with social problems. The court as a whole has a premier president and a chief prosecutor (procureur général), who is assisted by several advocates. Petitions for appeal go directly to the relevant chamber, which decides whether it will hear them. Although most cases are brought up on appeal from one of the parties, the procureur général keeps an eye out for questionable decisions in lower courts and recommends that certain ones be reviewed.
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The chamber that takes the case hears argument relevant to the specific point of law in question. No other matters may be brought up, and no new evidence may be introduced save that which the procureur gĂ©nĂ©ral feels would be in the interests of law. If the court does not uphold the decision, it is quashed, and the case is remanded back to another court of the same rank as that from which it came. A new trial is then held, and, if the lower court chooses to oppose the decision of the Cour de Cassation, the case is returned to the higher court. In the past this second appeal was considered by a united session of all the chambers. With the growth of the court, the number of participants became unwieldy, so in 1967 the task of reconsideration was shifted to a plenary assembly made up of the premier president, the chamber presidents, and usually a few senior members from each chamber. If the high court again quashes the decision, it is sent to a third court, again of the same rank as the first court. This last court, however, must conform to the high courtâs decision on the specific point of law covered.