Appeal in cassation before the Council of State

Verified 30 January 2026 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

The appeal in cassation allows you to ask the judge of cassation to verify that the trial judges (administrative tribunals, administrative courts of appeal and specialized administrative courts) complied with the form rules, procedure and have correctly applied the law. In administrative matters, the appeal in cassation must be lodged before the Council of State. We present you the information to know.

You can appeal in cassation against any judicial decision rendered in last resort, unless otherwise provided for by law.

The Conseil d'État judges the final decisions of the administrative tribunals, administrative courts of appeal and the specialized administrative courts.

It also hears appeals on points of law against decisions before it as a court of first spring or an appellate judge.

Warning  

The Administrative Court shall decide in the first and last instance on certain disputes. As a result, an appeal to the Court of Cassation is not possible. These include, for example, disputes concerning the consultation and communication of administrative documents or public archives, refusal of assistance from the police force to execute a court decision.

The appeal in cassation is not suspensive.

However, you can ask the Council of State to pronounce before the final decision a stay of execution.

Please note

At any time, it may be terminated reprieve which had been granted.

The time limit for bringing an action is set out in notification of the contested decision.

The delay varies depending on your place of residence and the nature of the decision :

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You live in metropolitan France

The time limit varies depending on the nature of your appeal (interim relief or not):

General case

The time limit is 2 months from the notification of the decision.

Please note

Failure to mention in the notification of the decision a period of appeal in cassation of less than 2 months leads to the automatic application of a period of 2 months.

Referred

The time limit is 15 days from the notification of the decision.

You live overseas

The time limit varies depending on the nature of your appeal (interim relief or not):

General case

The time limit is 3 months from the notification of the decision.

Referred

The time limit is 1 month and 15 days from the notification of the decision.

You live abroad

The time limit varies depending on the nature of your appeal (interim relief or not):

General case

The time limit is 4 months from the notification of the decision.

Referred

The time limit is 2 months and 15 days from the notification of the decision.

Yes, it is mandatory to hire a lawyer to appeal to the Council of State on a point of law, except if your appeal concerns a decision of a pension court.

You must take a lawyer to the Councils (also called lawyer at the Council of State and the Court of Cassation).

Depending on your income and the value of your wealth, you can apply for legal aid.

The way to deposit the query varies depending on whether it is filed by yourself or by your lawyer :

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By yourself

You can file your request for several ways :

Online

You can submit your request via the online service Removal citizens:

The request must be signed and includes the following items :

  • Your surname, first names and address
  • The precise statement of facts
  • Legal grounds (legal arguments demonstrating how the author of the contested decision made a poor application of the law)
  • The conclusions (what you ask the Council of State, for example the total or partial annulment of the contested decision).

Your request must be accompanied by the following :

  • Copy of the decision you are challenging
  • Copy of all documents relevant to the resolution of your dispute.
By post

The request can be sent to graft Council of State by post, preferably by RAR: titleContent .

Who shall I contact

The request must be signed and includes the following items :

  • Your surname, first names and address
  • The precise statement of facts
  • Legal grounds (legal arguments demonstrating how the author of the contested decision made a poor application of the law)
  • The conclusions (what you ask the Council of State, for example the total or partial annulment of the contested decision).

Your request must be accompanied by the following :

  • Copy of the decision you are challenging
  • Copy of all documents relevant to the resolution of your dispute.

Please note

When you submit your request in paper format, you must attach the contested decision and attachments with an inventory, all in 2 copies.

On site

The request may be filed with the graft of the Council of State.

Who shall I contact

The request must be signed and includes the following items :

  • Your surname, first names and address
  • The precise statement of facts
  • Legal grounds (legal arguments demonstrating how the author of the contested decision made a poor application of the law)
  • The conclusions (what you ask the Council of State, for example the total or partial annulment of the contested decision).

Your request must be accompanied by the following :

  • Copy of the decision you are challenging
  • Copy of all documents relevant to the resolution of your dispute.

Please note

When you file your application in paper format, you must attach the contested decision and the attachments accompanied by an inventory, all in 2 copies.

By your lawyer

Your lawyer must forward your query signed via the online service Removal.

But if the lawyer is not yet registered in the online service Removal, it may send the request by any means.

In principle, the appeal in cassation is free of charge.

However, you must get a lawyer and pay his fees (unless your appeal concerns a decision of a pension court).

Depending on your income and the value of your wealth, you can apply for legal aid.

Any request shall be subject to a prior admission procedure prior to consideration of arguments and decision-making.

Prior admission procedure

After registration of the appeal in cassation with the graft of the Council of State, the case is assigned to one of the 10 chambers of the Litigation Section of the Council of State.

It is a question of dismissing appeals that are inadmissible (for example, appeal time has expired) or that are not based on a serious ground of appeal (for example, insufficient reasoning of the query).

The President of the Chamber shall examine the matter promptly and shall choose between 3 solutions :

  • Reject the request by way alone of prescription
  • Submit it to the admission procedure
  • Admit it directly.

Please note

If your case is rejected, the court decision is yours notified.

In this case, you have the possibility to make a action for rectification of material error or a appeal for review.

Once your appeal is allowed, the investigation begins.

Instruction

The Council of State conducts an investigation contradictory.

Conduct of the hearing

The hearing is public.

The Council of State judges only the law. Its control is over the means relating to the regularity of judgment (external review of legality) and on the means relating to validity of the judgment (internal legality check).

External legality check

The Court of Cassation shall check that the decision has been delivered in accordance with the rules of law and procedure applicable to the trial judge.

In particular, it verifies that the judgment does not contain a breach of the rules of jurisdiction, defects in form, breaches of the rules of procedure or a failure to state sufficient reasons.

Internal legality check

The Court of Cassation examines the reasoning of the trial judges.

The means of cassation are the error of law (misunderstanding of a rule of law) and the error of facts (material inaccuracy of the facts, error in the legal characterization of the facts, distortion of the facts).

Please note

The average time taken to adjudicate an appeal in cassation is approximately one year.

At the end of the hearing, the case is deliberate. The decision of the Council of State is, on average, issued 3 weeks after the hearing.

Decision of the Council of State

After examining the grounds of cassation, there is 2 solutions :

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Dismissal of the appeal

The Council of State may dismiss the appeal if it considers that the decision is lawful and well founded.

Annulment of the decision (cassation)

The judge of cassation may set aside the judgment or judgment because he considers that one of the grounds is well founded.

Cassation with dismissal

The cassation with dismissal allows the court of cassation not to rule on the substance of the dispute. He may refer the case back to the same court or to a court of the same level for retrial.

Cassation without referral

The choice of the cassation without reference is done when the cancelation is sufficient to end the litigation and there is nothing left to judge. The Council of State has the capacity and sometimes the obligation to settle the case definitively on the merits.

In principle, a decision rendered by the Council of State ruling in cassation is final.

However, in some cases, the decision may be challenged by one of the following remedies :

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