Chapter II: Forms of appeal

The declaration of appeal must be made to the registrar of the court which handed down the contested decision. It must be signed by the registrar and by the applicant for judicial review himself or by a lawyer before the court which gave the decision, or by a special proxy; in the latter case, the proxy shall be appended to the document drawn up by the registrar. If the declarant…

Where the applicant for judicial review is a prisoner, the appeal may be lodged by means of a declaration to the head of the prison. This declaration is recorded, dated and signed by the head of the prison. It is also signed by the applicant; if the applicant is unable to sign, this is noted by the head of the establishment. The original or a copy of this document shall…

The plaintiff in cassation must notify his appeal to the public prosecutor and the other parties by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, within three days. .

The party who has not received the notification provided for in Article 578 has the right to lodge an objection to the judgment handed down by the Cour de cassation, by filing a declaration at the registry of the court that handed down the decision, within five days of the notification provided for in article 614.

The applicant for cassation, either by making his declaration or within ten days thereafter, may file, at the registry of the court which handed down the contested decision, a memorandum, signed by him, containing his grounds for cassation. The court clerk shall issue him with a receipt. .

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.