The Court of Cassation ( ) is the supreme court for civil and criminal cases in France. It is one of the country's four apex courts, along with the Council of State, the Constitutional Council and the Jurisdictional Disputes Tribunal.
It primarily hears appeals against the decisions of courts of assizes and courts of appeal (appeals-in-cassation). The Court only reviews questions of law (but not questions of fact) and bears ultimate responsibility for a uniform interpretation and application of statutory law throughout France. It also filters out appeals challenging the constitutionality of statutes before forwarding them to the Counstitutional Council, reviews lower court verdicts on request of the European Court of Human Rights and hears several other types of cases.
The Court is organized into three civil chambers, a commerce chamber, a labour chamber, a criminal chamber, a prosecutorial service and various other bodies. The Court usually rules in panels of three or five judges; the most significant cases are adjudicated by plenary sessions.
The Court was established in 1790 as the Tribunal of Cassation during the French Revolution; its original purpose was to act as a court of error with revisory jurisdiction over lower provincial prerogative courts (parlements). However, much about the Court continues the earlier Paris Parlement.
The Court is located in the Palace of Justice in the 1st arrondissement of Paris.
Composition
The Court is made up of justices, the Public prosecutor's office, . In addition, a separate bar of specially certified barristers exists for trying cases at the French Court.
Judges and divisions
Overall, the Court consists of nearly 85 trial judges (conseillers) and about 40 deputy judges (conseillers référendaires), each divided among six different divisions (chambres): First Civil Division (première chambre civile) deals with contractual liability, international private law, arbitration, consumer law, family law, successions (wills), child custody, professional discipline, individual rights Second Civil Division (deuxième chambre civile) handles civil procedural issues, torts, insurance law, social insurance law and electoral matters Third Civil Division (troisième chambre civile) (or "Land Court") for immovable property (real estate), housing, commercial leases, construction law, urban planning law, environmental law Commercial Division (chambre commerciale, financière et économique) handles corporate law, bankruptcy, commercial law, business contracts, competition law, financial law and intellectual property rights Labor Division (chambre sociale) handles labor disputes, worker compensation. Criminal Division (chambre criminelle) deals with criminal cases and criminal procedural rules
Each division is headed by a presiding justice referred to in French as a président, or President of Division. The Chief Justice bears the title of the premier président, or President of the Court, who supervises the presiding justices of the various divisions. The Chief Justice is the highest-ranking judicial officer in the country and is responsible for administration of the Court and the discipline of justices. The current Chief Justice is . The Court also includes 12 masters (auditeurs), the lowest rank of justice, who are primarily concerned with administration.
There is, in addition to the abovementioned six divisions, a separate organization known as the Divisional Court (chambre mixte). The Divisional Court adjudicates where the subject matter of an appeal falls within the purview of multiple divisions. The Bench of the Divisional Court seats the Chief Justice and a number of other judges from at least three other divisions relevant to a given case. Any participating division is represented by its Presiding Justice and two puisne judges.
Finally, a full court (Assemblée plénière) is called, presided over by the Chief Justice or, if he is absent, by the most senior presiding justice. It also seats all divisional presiding justices and senior justices, assisted by a puisne judge from each division. The full court is the highest level of the Court.