-generaux_.
For the transaction of business the court of appeal is divided into
chambers, or sections, each consisting of a president and four
_conseillers_, or judges. The primary function of the court is the
hearing of appeals, in both civil and criminal causes, from the courts
of first instance. Original jurisdiction is limited and incidental.

Closely related to the courts of appeal are the _cours d'assises_, or
courts of assize. These are not separate or permanent tribunals. Every
three months there is constituted in each department, ordinarily in
the chief town thereof, a court of assize consisting of a specially
designated member of the court of appeals within whose jurisdiction
the department lies and two other magistrates, who may be chosen
either from the remaining _conseillers_ of the court of appeals or
from the justices of the local court of first instance. The courts of
assize are occupied exclusively with serious offenses, such as in the
Penal Code are classified as crimes. In them, and in them only among
French tribunals, is the device of the jury regularly employed. A jury
consists of twelve men, whose verdict is rendered by simple majority.
As in Great Britain and some of the American states, the jurors
determine the fact but do not apply the law.

*369. The Court of Cassation.*--At the apex of the hierarchy of ordinary
tribunals is the Court of Cassation. This court sits at Paris, and in
all matters of ordinary private law it is the supreme tribunal of the
state. It consists of a first president, three sectional presidents,
and forty-five judges. Attached to it are a procurator-general and six
advocates-general. For working purposes it is divided into three
sections: the _Chambre des Requetes_, or Court of Petitions, which
gives civil cases a preliminary hearing; the Civil Court, which gives
them a final consideration; and the Criminal Court, which disposes of
criminal cases on appeal. It is within the competence of the Court of
Cassation to review the decisions of any tribunal in France, save
those of an administrative character. It passes, not upon fact, but
upon the principles of law involved and upon the competence of the
court rendering the original decision. A decision which is overruled
is said to be _casse_, i.e., annulled. The purpose of the Court of (p. 339)
Cassation is not alone to further the interests of justice, but also
to preserve the unity of French jurisprudence.

*370. Appointme