Visit of M. Dyonisios Bougatsos, Master of petitions at the Greek Council of State

Mr Bougatsos was received at the Cour de cassation for a day of familiarisation with the French judicial system and cassation techniques.

He was given a presentation by Patrick Matet, Honorary Elder judge at the First Civil Chamber, who explained how the Court operates, how it is organised and its working methods. Particular emphasis was placed on the reforms to the drafting of rulings and on the enhanced reasoning.

Discussions also focused at length on the priority question of constitutionality, which is common to the Cour de cassation and the Conseil d'Etat, and whose mechanism appeared very new to Mr Bougatsos, since the role of Constitutional Court is played in Greece by the superior courts.

This very fruitful meeting, which forms part of the Cour de cassation's international strategy, encouraged dialogue between legal professionals and comparisons between systems.