International relations of the Court of cassation

The internationalisation of law and justice has been one of the major upheavals in the environement of national judges – and in particular supreme court judges – since the second half of the 20th century, creating new challenges: interpretation and application of international rules, articulation of these norms with domestic norms, growing importance of comparative law, and emergence of globalised litigation. In Europe, the addition of a supranational jurisdictional level composed of the two European courts, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, gives a particular resonance to the phenomenon.

As the highest court of the national judiciary system, the Court of cassation has a particular responsability to ensure the harmonious integration of the French legal system within this internationalised environment and to maintain its influence in a legal world that has become competitive.

Developing strategic lignes of action to structure its international action has thus become an imperative for the Court of cassation.

In a European context marked by growing tensions and repeated challenges to the rule of law and the democratic foundations of our societies, the strengthening of the dialogue between judges appears to be an imperative, contributing to the construction of a common judicial area based on the fundamental values and principles shared by the European countries.

This dialogue promotes a coordinated response to the common challenges faced by judges in Europe.

Because of the historical and cultural links between France and the countries of the Francophonie, the Court of cassation also maintains a high level of cooperation with the supreme courts of these States, whose legal systems have many features in common with the French model.

In keeping with its long tradition of openness, the Court of cassation is committed to developing its relations with the supreme courts of foreign States.

In this context, the international action of the Court of cassation has three objectives:

• to promote the fundamental values and principles of the French judicial system and contribute to the promotion of continental law and the French-speaking world;
• to disseminate and promote the case law and working methods of the Court of cassation;
• to encourage the exchange of best practices, to strengthen the expertise of the Court of cassation in international law and to develop comparative analysis tools in order to enrich the French legal system.

The international action of the Court of cassation is expressed both bilaterally, through the exchanges it maintains with other foreign supreme jurisdictions, and multilaterally through the participation of the Court of Cassation in various international and European judicial networks (Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the European Union, Network of Superior Courts, Association of the High Courts of cassation of the countries sharing the use of French (AHJUCAF).

In the interests of accessibility and dissemination of its case law, the Court of cassation has undertaken to translate a selection of judgments into English each quarter.

The translated judgments are available on the website of the Court of cassation.

The international relations department, which is attached to the first presidency, is responsible for implementing the international activities of the Court of cassation.