Legislative part

The public prosecutor and all parties have five clear days after the day on which the contested decision was handed down to lodge an appeal to the Supreme Court. However, the time limit for lodging an appeal only runs from the service of the judgment, regardless of the method of service: 1° For the party who, after adversarial proceedings, was not present or represented at the hearing at which the…

Where the contested decision is a judgment of an investigating chamber, ruling under the conditions set out in the fourth paragraph of Article 695-31 or the fourth paragraph of Article 695-46, the time limit for appeal mentioned in the first paragraph of Article 568 is reduced to three clear days. The case file shall be sent, by any means enabling a written record to be kept, to the registry of…

During the time limits for the appeal in cassation and, if there has been an appeal, until the judgment of the Court of Cassation has been delivered, the execution of the judgment of the Court of Appeal shall be stayed, except in respect of civil sentences, and unless the Court of Appeal confirms the warrant issued by the court pursuant to Article 464-1 or article 465, first paragraph, or does…

Where the court or the court of appeal rules by judgment or ruling separate from the judgment on the merits, the appeal in cassation is immediately admissible if this decision puts an end to the proceedings. If the President of the Criminal Division finds that a decision has been wrongly considered by the interested party as putting an end to the proceedings, he shall assess whether the appeal should nevertheless…

The court clerk shall notify the president of the court or the first president of the court of appeal of the filing of the application. The judgment or ruling is not enforceable and no decision may be made on the merits until a ruling has been made on the said application. As soon as the Registrar has received the appeal and the application, he shall forward the latter to the…

The withdrawal of the appeal is recorded by order of the President of the Criminal Division.

Judgments of acquittal handed down by the assize court may be appealed only in the interests of the law, and without prejudice to the acquitted party.

However, judgments handed down by the assize court either after acquittal under the conditions provided for by Article 371, or after acquittal or exemption from punishment under the conditions set out in Article 372. The same applies to judgments ruling on restitutions, as stated in article 373.

The decision of the investigating chamber to refer the accused to the criminal court or police court may only be challenged before the Cour de cassation where it rules, of its own motion or on a plea by the parties, on jurisdiction or where it sets out final provisions which the court, hearing the pre-trial proceedings, does not have the power to amend.

The Criminal Division hearing an appeal against the judgment committing the offender to trial or ordering that the offender be referred to the Criminal Court must rule within three months of receipt of the case file at the Cour de cassation. The applicant for judicial review or his lawyer must, on pain of forfeiture, file his brief setting out the grounds for judicial review within one month of receipt of…