Effects of cassation appeals in Vietnam and France's criminal procedure laws

Abstract

In the criminal procedure law of France and many countries around the world, cassation appeals have two kinds of effect. The first one is suspensive effect which suspends the effectiveness of the appealled decision. The second one is devolutive effect which gives rise to cassation review, at the same it also limits the exercise of such cassation review to only law-related matters within the scope of the appeal. Such limitation must also be determined by the legal standing of the appellant. This article makes a comparision between the criminal procedura law of Vietnam and France on the effectiveness of cassation appeals and proposes some solutions to improve Vietnam's criminal procedure law on the effectiveness of cassation appeals according to the French model, in order to ensurecompliance with the nature of cassation review and fundamental principles of criminal procedure.