Court de Cassation - Haiti Observer Blog

The members of the Haitian parliament have not been sleeping too well lately, specially after they head about the issues that were discussed in a supposedly secret meeting between President Michel Martelly and the opposition group G-8. Although this particular meeting is classified as "Secret Meeting" but.... we all know... it's Haiti..... This meeting supposedly took place on Tuesday, February 2nd. What actually gave members of the 50th legislative insomnia was a proposition by the G-8 to Martelly to do away with the newly elected legislators. The G-8 proposed the creation of a transitional government headed by the President for the Court of Cassation and also for the President to revoke his recent Government order to annul the recent legislative election.

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Emile Jonassaint was born on May 20th 1913 and became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Haiti and later served as the president for a short period. Earlier the military regime had forced Jean Bernard Aristide to move out of the country.

Crimes by the Army

After a few years from May 12th to October 12th 1994, Emile Jonassaint functioned as the Head of the Provisional Government. During his tenure it is alleged that some of the most inhuman crimes were meted out by the Haitian army.

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Haiti's court system is basically designed after the French system of civil law, the Roman Law and the Napoleonic Code. It is divided into four levels. The highest level is the Court de Cassation, which is also known as the Supreme Court. Under it are the Courts of Appeals, Courts of First Instance and Justice of the Peace Courts. Each level hast its own kinds of cases to hear and deal with.

The Court of Cassation is composed of a president, vice-president and ten judges. The Supreme Court president is usually chosen and appointed by the country's president. There are certain requirements for Supreme Court judges. One has to be at least 30 years old and should have a decade of law practice. Only judges who have served as a judge or a public lawyer for seven years are qualified for the Supreme Court seat. The highest court deals with matters involving law and decree unconstitutionality.

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