The idea of cassation is linked to the annulment or repeal of a sentence.
The concept of cassation is used in the field of law with reference to the act and result of annulling or marrying (in the sense of repealing or abolishing). The court of cassation is the court that deals with possible infractions committed in rulings or shortcomings in processes linked to the evidence or facts judged.
Also called the court of cassation , this court is responsible for resolving appeals of cassation , which seek the annulment of a sentence . The attempt to annul the judicial ruling is due to an improper application or interpretation of the law , or because the judicial resolution derives from a process that has not respected the legal requirements.
Cassation appeals
In other words: when a party involved in a dispute considers that a court has issued a ruling that is incorrect from a legal point of view, they can file an appeal. This extraordinary appeal is studied by the court of cassation, which is a higher court capable of annulling the sentence in question. The court of cassation can correct an error by annulling a procedure or a ruling, but it does not have the power to judge.
The courts of cassation, in short, are responsible for ensuring that the law is applied correctly. They also unify the way in which laws are interpreted, establishing jurisprudence.
Beyond these issues, the scope of cassation appeals varies according to procedural law , which takes different forms depending on each country. That is why its regulation is different taking into account the particularities of the various legislations.
A court of cassation analyzes possible flaws in judicial processes or violations in rulings.
General characteristics
It is important to note that procedural law varies greatly from one country to another, which is why it is very difficult to define the concept of cassation in a way that can be applied in all cases . However, there are certain general characteristics, which are set out below.
The appeal of cassation is extraordinary , that is, the law admits it exceptionally and against certain judicial resolutions. The causes of cassation are previously determined, and can be divided into two groups, which are violations of procedure (any form errors ) and violations of law (substantive errors).
Limits to cassation
The cassation must adhere to certain limits, such as the reasons that may give rise to it and the amount, especially in civil law cases. According to doctrine and jurisprudence, it is possible to find two variants that arise regarding the extension of the powers to review the events that occurred in a given case:
* From a classical point of view, the appeal of cassation is not constitutive of an instance . This means that the court can only rule on questions of law. It is the review that has the most limitations, and can be based only on an incorrect interpretation of the law, but not carry out a review of the facts of the trial;
* If limited to the criminal sphere and interpreted more broadly, this appeal can not only review the factual issues, but also the facts themselves. If it does not do so, by the way, it is understood that it violates the guarantee of dual jurisdiction, as recognized by several international human rights treaties.
The German theory of exhaustion of review capacities is used to support this position, since it determines that a court of cassation has the obligation to review as much as is within its reach, with the sole exception of issues that are directly related with the principle of immediacy (the contact in hearing of the procedural subjects with the judge , as well as the reception of the means of evidence in a given trial).