In law, the act of annulling or quashing a judgment; the process of voiding or reversing a court decision; also, a cassation court hears cases to review lower court decisions.
From Medieval Latin 'cassatio' (annulment), derived from 'cassare' (to break/annul). The term entered English legal vocabulary through French law ('Cour de Cassation') and became standardized in international legal systems.
France's Cour de Cassation is the ultimate appeals court, and its very name (Cassation Court) means it exists to 'break' or reverse bad decisions—this naming choice reveals how medieval lawyers actually thought about appeals: as a system for destroying incorrect legal judgments, not refining them.
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