Cassação

Cassação is a term used in Portuguese-speaking legal systems to denote the annulment or cancellation of a decision, mandate, or diploma by a competent authority. The word comes from Latin cassatio and is used in various contexts with related but distinct meanings.

In civil law jurisdictions, cassação commonly refers to the act by which a higher court voids a lower court’s decision. This use appears in phrases such as cassação de acórdão or recurso de cassação, where the remedy is to annul the ruling and often to remand the case for a new judgment in accordance with the law. The exact procedures and effects vary by country and by legal tradition.

In political and electoral contexts, cassação refers to the removal of an elected official’s mandate or the invalidation of an electoral diploma. It is a form of sanction applied when irregularities or illegalities are found in the electoral process or in the conduct of the officeholder. Cassação de mandato typically results in the loss of the seat and may trigger a new election or a succession under applicable rules. Cassação de diploma may involve the annulment of the credential confirming an electoral victory.

The term is used in Portugal, Brazil, and other Lusophone jurisdictions, though the precise rules, procedures, and consequences vary between systems. While related in that both senses involve annulment, cassação in the judicial sense is a corrective mechanism within the judiciary; in the political sense it is a legal-constitutional sanction affecting representation.