The Court of Cassation is not a third instance. It does not re-examine the facts or weigh the evidence; it reviews the correct application of law to the facts as found by the trial court. Misunderstanding this is why most appeals fail.
The commonest error: drafting the appeal as a re-argument on the merits. Such an appeal is dismissed even where the judgment was genuinely unjust, because it rests on no legal ground.
Contents
1) The Nature of Cassation
Cassation is an extraordinary route whose function is to unify the interpretation of law and review the soundness of its application, not to relieve a party of an unjust result on the facts.
- The facts are not re-examined.
- A new defence not raised before the trial court is inadmissible.
- The trial court's power to assess evidence is not reviewable so long as its reasoning is tenable.
The golden rule: what you did not raise before the Court of Appeal cannot be raised for the first time on cassation — save matters engaging public order.
2) Which Judgments May Be Challenged
- Judgments of the courts of appeal as the law provides.
- The judgment must, as a rule, dispose of the dispute.
- Interim and urgent judgments are subject to particular rules.
- Some judgments are excluded by law for value or by their nature.
A necessary first step: confirm the judgment is open to cassation at all before preparing the petition. An appeal against a non-appealable judgment is dismissed on form however strong its grounds.
3) Grounds of Appeal
The grounds are exhaustively defined, chief among them:
- Violation of the law: applying an inapplicable provision or omitting an applicable one.
- Error in applying or interpreting the law: giving a provision a meaning it cannot bear.
- Nullity in the judgment: deficient or contradictory reasoning, or corrupt inference.
- Nullity in procedure affecting the judgment.
- Breach of jurisdiction rules engaging public order.
- Two contradictory judgments in the same dispute.
- Material breach of the right of defence.
Most successful in practice: deficient reasoning and corrupt inference — that the judgment failed to address a substantive defence, or founded its conclusion on reasons that do not logically lead to it.
4) Deadline and Procedure
- Calculating the period from the date of the judgment or its service, as applicable.
- Filing the petition signed by counsel admitted before the Court of Cassation.
- Depositing the security — failure to do so is a ground of inadmissibility.
- Annexing the documents and a copy of the impugned judgment.
- Serving the respondent with the petition.
A condition allowing no latitude: a cassation petition may be signed only by counsel admitted before the Court of Cassation. It is an absolute formal requirement.
5) Grounds of Inadmissibility
Most appeals fail on form rather than substance. The commonest grounds are:
- Missing the deadline, even by a single day.
- Failing to deposit the security, or depositing it short.
- Signature by counsel not admitted before the Court.
- Failure to state the grounds sufficiently and specifically.
- Appealing a judgment not open to cassation.
- Absence of standing or interest in the appellant.
An essential point: the grounds must be specific and set out in the petition itself. A general reference to earlier submissions neither suffices nor cures.
6) Effect of the Appeal
Effect of filing
As a rule it does not stay execution; a stay may be sought in the cases the law allows where serious harm is feared.
The outcome
- Dismissal: the judgment becomes final.
- Quashing and remittal to the trial court.
- Quashing and determination of the merits in defined cases.
7) Drafting the Petition
Drafting here is a craft in itself. A good ground is built in three steps:
- Identify the legal error precisely and attribute it to the judgment's own words.
- Quote what the judgment held verbatim to locate the error.
- Show the error's effect on the outcome — an immaterial error will not quash a judgment.
Drafting rule: each ground stands alone, numbered, identifying the provision breached, the locus of the breach, and its effect. Vague, generalised grounds waste a genuine opportunity.
8) Practical Guidance
Before appealing
- Calculate the period precisely from day one.
- Confirm the judgment is open to cassation.
- Review the hearing records and your earlier submissions.
- Identify the substantive defences that were overlooked.
When preparing
- Build each ground on a specific provision.
- Quote the passage of the judgment complained of.
- Show the error's effect on the operative part.
- Deposit the security and all documents in full.
Professional reminder: a successful cassation begins before the trial court — by having defences recorded and submissions filed. What was never raised there cannot found a complaint that the judgment ignored it.
Need an assessment of cassation prospects, or a petition drafted? Contact Attorney Meshari Obaid Al-Enezi — admitted before the Court of Cassation — Yumnaak Law Firm.
