Book III: Extraordinary remedies

After the expiry of this period, the plaintiff who has been convicted of a criminal offence may send his statement of case directly to the registry of the Cour de cassation; the other parties may not avail themselves of the benefit of this provision without the assistance of a lawyer at the Cour de cassation. In all cases, the pleading must be accompanied by as many copies as there are…

Unless a dispensation is granted by the President of the Criminal Division, the brief of a plaintiff who has been convicted of a criminal offence must reach the registry of the Court of Cassation no later than one month after the date of the appeal. The same applies to the statement of a lawyer who constitutes himself on behalf of a plaintiff on appeal.

Unless a dispensation is granted by the President of the Criminal Division, the Public Prosecutor’s brief, where the latter appeals to the Court of Cassation, must reach the Registry of the Court of Cassation no later than one month after the date of the appeal.

The Registrar, within a maximum period of twenty days from the date of the declaration of appeal, shall mark and initial the documents in the file, to which he shall attach a copy of the contested decision, a copy of the notice of appeal and, if applicable, the appellant’s brief. In all, he draws up an inventory.

When the case file is thus in order, the court clerk hands it over to the magistrate of the public prosecutor’s office, who immediately sends it to the public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation; the latter, in turn, forwards it to the registry of the criminal division.

If one or more lawyers have been appointed, the President of the Chamber shall set a time limit for the filing of the pleadings with the Registrar of the Criminal Chamber. The President of that Chamber shall appoint an adviser to report after the pleadings have been filed. .

A party interested in the appeal who has not received a copy of the pleadings produced in support of the appeal may lodge an objection to the judgment handed down by the Cour de cassation, by declaration at the registry of the court which handed down the decision, within five days of the notification provided for in article 614.

The pleadings shall contain the grounds of cassation and refer to the legal texts whose infringement is alleged. They are drawn up on a stamp, unless the applicant is a person sentenced to a criminal penalty. They must be filed within the time limit. No additional pleadings may be attached to them after the assigned adviser has filed his report. Late filing of a pleading proposing additional pleas may result…

An applicant for judicial review who has not constituted a lawyer and has not lodged his statement of case within the time limit provided for in Article 584 shall forfeit his appeal. The same applies, unless an exemption is granted by the President of the Criminal Division, to an applicant who has been convicted of a criminal offence and who has not instructed a lawyer and to the Public Prosecutor’s…

The appeal shall lapse, in the cases and under the conditions set out in articles 567-2, 574-1, 574-2 and 590-1, shall be ordered by the President of the Criminal Division or the Councillor designated by him.