CASSATION (Fr.,from Lat. eassarc, to annul, from cassus, empty), COURT or. The supreme judicial tribunal of France. In French law the act of annulling the decision of a court is called cassation, and the function of eassation, as re gards the judgments of all the other courts, is assigned to a special tribunal, called the Court of Cassation. The present organization and pow ers of the court (late from the Constitution of the revolutionary year VIII. (1799-1800), which enacted that there should be "for the whole of France a tribunal of cessation, which shall pro nounce on demands for cassation against judg ments in the last resort pronounced by the tribunals," and that this supreme tribunal shall pronounce no judgment on the foundation or merits of the cause, but that, in case of its break ing the judgment it shall remit the cause to the tribunal appealed from to pronounce another. Substantially the institution has re tained its original character, notwithstanding all the changes of governnient which have occurred in France. The demand for cassation can be made only by the parties to the suit, or by the procurcur-y('ne'ral of the Court of Cessation, act ing in the public interest. Criminal as well as civil judgment may be reviewed by the court, even under certain circumstances the judgments of justices of the peace and of courts-martial, military and naval. The delay allowed for bring ing a civil ease before the Court of Cassation is three months for persons domiciled in France, six months for those in Corsica, a year for Amer ican colonists, and two for all persons resident beyond the ('ape of Good Hope. In criminal matters the procedure is much more prompt.,
three full days only being allowed to the person condemned to bring his action of eassation, and the same space being given to the procureur g(mi•ral. In all criminal and police eases, the Court of Cassation may pronounce judgment im mediately after the expiration of this time, and must do so within a month. The court is divided into three sections, one of which deals exclusively with criminal matters. It. consists of a presi dent, who has the title of first president, and three vice-presidents, who are called presidents. 45 counselors or ordinary judges. a proeureur gkii•ral. or public prosecutor, 6 substitutes. who have the title of :olvocates-general, and several inferior officers. The presidents and counselors are manned by the executive for life, the other officers being removable at pleasure. No judg ment can be pronounced unless eleven judges are present, the decision being determined by the majority. Where the numbers are equally di vided. tire judges are called in, and eases of pecu liar difficulty may be judged of by the three sections united. The whole court, when presided over by the Ali/lister of Justice, possesses also the right of discipline and censure over all judges for grave offenses, not specially provided for by the law. When thus constituted. the Court of Cassation may suspend the judges of the im perial courts from the exercise of their functions, and call them to its bar. The proeureur-Wm(lral of the Court of Cassation likewise possesses a surveillance over the procureurs-g(mraux of the imperial courts. See APPEAL; COURT.