Computation of arduous hours under Article 116
Held. Preparation time forming part of the task is counted.
The National Court
One law throughout the territory. The Court hears cassation on a question of law, resolves divergences between regional courts, and its rulings on divergence bind every court until the law changes.
Article 200(1): the National Court secures the uniform interpretation of the law throughout the territory.
Article 200(4): the Court in no case decides a question of the conformity of a norm with this Constitution, which belongs to the Constitutional Chamber under Article 195.
The three grounds of cassation
A question of law
The regional court decided finally on the facts. The Court examines the law it applied.
A divergence between regional courts
Two courts have decided the same question differently. A ruling settles it and binds every court.
A manifest breach of procedure
A defect in the conduct of the proceeding, of a kind apparent on the record.
How to bring an appeal in cassation
Where the Court sits among the others
| Court | Function |
|---|---|
| Communal and sub-regional courts | Try civil, criminal, labour, cooperative, administrative and ecological matters at first instance |
| Regional courts | Hear appeals on the facts and on the law, and decide finally |
| National Court | Cassation on a question of law, on divergence, and on a manifest breach of procedure |
| Constitutional Court | Conformity with this Constitution, in plenary, in the Constitutional Chamber and in the Ecological Chamber |
Recent rulings on divergence
Standing of a user assembly under Article 93
Held. A user assembly has standing in its own name for the matters Article 93 places before it.
Time from which the period to challenge an administrative act runs
Held. The period runs from notification to the person affected.
Where the Court meets another organ
| Organ | Matter |
|---|---|
| Constitutional Court | Receives every question of conformity by reference under Article 195. The Court decides none. |
| Judicial Council | Conducts the competitions by which judges of the Court are recruited, and maintains the assignment system of Article 201. |
| Judicial Inspectorate | Examines the operation of the Court and the working of its assignment system, and in no case the content of a judgment. |
| Prosecution service | Appears in criminal cassation, and its decisions not to prosecute are reviewable by a court under Article 226(2). |
| Audit Office | Audits the resources of the Court annually, and in no case the reasoning of a judgment. |
| Defender of Rights | May intervene in any proceeding concerning a right of Title III under Article 252(3). |