Cassation: Your Last Chance for Justice
I am Vasilii Woitz. Once a verdict is in force, only a serious legal error will reopen it — finding that error in the file is the work I do here myself.
I am Vasilii Woitz. Once a verdict is in force, only a serious legal error will reopen it — finding that error in the file is the work I do here myself.
Material Law Violations
I check whether the article charged actually fits what the person did — a misapplied article is the cleanest ground there is.
Procedural Law Violations
I look for the procedural breaches that changed the outcome, not the harmless ones a cassation court will ignore.
Sentence Injustice
I compare the sentence with what courts actually give in comparable cases, and argue the gap where there is one.
Supreme Court Practice Alignment
I read the current Supreme Court practice for the specific article and use the rulings that fit the case.
Illegal Court Composition
I verify who heard the case and on what authority — an improperly composed court is a ground that stands on its own.
Constitutional Rights Violations
Where a constitutional right was breached, I say so directly, and take the point as far as it needs to go.
This page is about how I work on a cassation. The procedure itself — the six-month window, what each instance can do, the Supreme Court and a complaint to its Chairman — is set out here: Cassation appeal, Appeal to the Supreme Court and Complaint to its Chairman.
Send me the case papers. I will tell you whether there is a real cassation ground in them or not.
Once the judgment is in force there is a window in which a cassation appeal must be heard in a court session. After it, the hearing is at a judge's discretion.
Six months is a deadline, not a guideline. Where a foreign national is involved, sending documents abroad, legalisation and translation easily consume half of that window, so preparation has to start right after the appeal.
Answer a few questions to get a preliminary assessment of your situation from our leading experts.