Cassation (Supreme Court)

If you disagree with the ruling of the court or the cantonal court, you can appeal appeal to the court of appeals. But what if you disagree with the court's ruling? A judgment or order of the court of appeals can be appealed in cassation to the Supreme Court.

What is cassation?

Cassation involves appealing to the Supreme Court against a decision of a lower court. In most cases, it is an appeal against the decision of the trial court, which ruled on appeal. In the Supreme Court, we speak of counselors rather than judges. On appeal, the trial court reassesses the substance of the case and thus looks at the facts. In cassation, this is different. The justices assess whether the court of appeals has made the correct considerations with regard to the application of the law, following the judicial procedures and substantiating the judgment. Thus, the Supreme Court takes the facts as established by the district court and the court of appeals as correct. Even if in reality the facts are different.

Why cassation?

A party may believe that the trial court made errors in the proceedings. Reasons for appealing in cassation include misinterpretation of the law, insufficient reasoning of the judgment or procedural errors. The purpose of cassation is to correct errors by lower courts and to provide legal protection to litigants. Cassation also serves to monitor legal unity and legal development.

When can you appeal in cassation?

After a court ruling, parties may file cassation. This also applies in summary proceedings. Parties may also file cassation against court judgments if the parties have agreed to skip the appeal. The deadline for filing cassation in subpoena- and petition procedures is three months. In summary proceedings, this period is eight weeks. Finally, it is important to note that a lawyer is mandatory in an appeal in cassation to the Supreme Court, even as a defendant. The case is then usually handled by a specialized cassation lawyer.

Not every case suitable for cassation

Because the facts are not reviewed by the Supreme Court, not every case is suitable for cassation. If one of our clients cannot agree with an appeal ruling, Lexys Lawyers will guide those clients to a specialized cassation lawyer who will first come up with a cassation recommendation. Based on that, a decision is then made as to whether it is worth going to the Supreme Court.

Judgment in cassation

In its ruling, the Supreme Court can declare the appeal founded or unfounded. If the appeal is well-founded, then the Supreme Court decides to decide the case itself (then the case ends in the Supreme Court's ruling) or to refer the case back to the trial court. This is a different court than the court that was previously involved in the case on appeal.