has judged that such acts are restricted to: relationships between the executive branch and the legislative branch, e.g., whether a bill should be submitted to Parliament; acts that are part and parcel of France's foreign policy. In this role, the Council provides a powerful check on the actions of the executive. Appellate jurisdiction The Council of State has appellate jurisdiction over local election judgments from any of the 37 administrative courts. It acts as a final court of cassation for decisions originating from any of the eight appellate administrative courts, meaning that it hears cases in which the plaintiff argues that the appellate court ignored or misinterpreted the law. Should it decide that the original appellate court took the wrong decision, the Council of State will in most situations transfer the case to a different administrative court of appeal, to be re-judged. However, in the interest of swifter decision-making and correct interpretation of the law (bonne administration de la justice), it also has the right to rule on the case without transferring it, thus acting as an appellate court in last resort (jugement en dernier ressort). Court procedure Like nearly all French courts, the Council's court system is inquisitorial, and proceedings are initiated by a statement of claim detailing the factual background of the case and why the appellant should be granted relief. The Council then begins a formal investigation, asking the appellee, i.e., the government or a government agency or office, to satisfy the Council with a detailed statement of defense. Burden of proof does not lie with the plaintiff; instead, the Council decides whether or not the appellant has cause to bring suit and whether the government was in error if information provided by the appellant is sufficient to locate previously undisclosed evidence. Of course, both parties may submit additional pleadings and information until the case is ready for final judgment. The formation of judgement depends on the importance of the case, for the jurisprudence and the interest of the law. All of the formations belong to the Administrative Claims department. The smaller cases (without new legal issues) are treated by one chamber (known as under-departments, i.e. sous-section, prior to their reorganization in 2016). There are 10 chambers. The bigger cases are attributed to united chambers (chambres réunies), a configuration made up of two chambers, although, for some important fiscal cases, three or four chambers can be concerned,