Court of Cassation (France)

The Court of Cassation is the highest court in France for civil and criminal cases. It is one of the country's four main superior courts, along with the Council of State, the Constitutional Council, and the Jurisdictional Disputes Tribunal. The Court mainly listens to appeals from courts of assizes and courts of appeal. It looks at questions about the law but not facts, making sure laws are understood and used the same way across all of France.

The Court has several parts, including civil, commercial, labor, and criminal chambers, as well as a prosecutorial service. It usually decides cases with panels of three or five judges, but important cases are handled by a full meeting of all judges.

The Court of Cassation was created in 1790 during the French Revolution as the Tribunal of Cassation. It was meant to review mistakes made by lower courts in France. Today, the Court works in the Palace of Justice in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. Many other countries have similar courts based on the French model.

Composition

The Court of Cassation in France is made up of judges, a public prosecutor's office, and an Administrative Office of Courts. There are nearly 85 trial judges and about 40 deputy judges, divided into six groups, or divisions, each handling different types of cases.

These divisions include civil law, commercial law, labor disputes, and criminal cases. Each division has a presiding justice, with the Chief Justice overseeing them all. There is also a special Divisional Court for cases that involve multiple divisions, and a full court for the most important decisions.

Proceedings

The Court of Cassation's main job is to check if lower courts made mistakes in following the law or rules when making decisions. As the highest court in France, it also has other important tasks.

The Court hears appeals, called pourvois en cassation, from lower courts. These appeals look only at whether the law was applied correctly, not at new facts. If the Court finds a mistake, it can cancel the lower court's decision and send the case back for another look.

For serious crimes tried by a jury in a Court of Assizes, appeals can now be made to another Court of Assizes with a larger jury. The Court of Cassation still checks for mistakes in how the law was used.

The Court also gives advice when the government disagrees with how a lower court understood the law. It can suggest changes to laws in its yearly report and helps in special courts for important cases.

Other related courts

France has more than just the Court of Cassation to handle important cases. For example, when people have problems with the government or its rules, they go to special administrative courts. The top court for these cases is called the Conseil d'État.

If there is a disagreement about which type of court should handle a case, the Jurisdictional Disputes Court (Tribunal des Conflits) makes the decision. This court has members from the top judicial and administrative courts.

Another important court is the Constitutional Council. It reviews laws to make sure they follow France’s rules about what is right and fair. Sometimes, people can ask this council to check a law before it is used in a court case.

There is also the European Court of Human Rights, which looks at cases where someone feels their rights were broken by the government. Before going to this court, all other options in France must be tried first.