Nul n'est censé être ignoré par le(s) droit(s). Politiques d'accès au droit et à la justice en Belgique et en France

Doctoral thesis (2010)

My PhD dissertation seeks to describe and explain legal aid policies and practices in Belgium and France. The main focus lies on the relation between the mobilization of law and the institutional contexts ... [more ▼]

My PhD dissertation seeks to describe and explain legal aid policies and practices in Belgium and France. The main focus lies on the relation between the mobilization of law and the institutional contexts in which lawyers provide legal aid. This approach allows me to highlight the formation of innovative social and political mobilizations of law. This process is linked with recent social policies’ and, more broadly, public policies’ transformations. In my dissertation I suggest to break the deadlock between two types of opposite explanations of lawyering for the poor. On the one hand, macro-sociological explanations of legal aid transformations in occidental societies identified several waves of legal programs with little differences between the studied countries. On the other hand, micro-sociological approaches focused on the commitment conditions and choices of lawyering for the poor and disadvantaged. I rather lay emphasize on legal aid actors’ constraints, opportunities and resources in order to highlight both structures and agencies in legal practice. The first part of my dissertation is dedicated to a comparative and socio-historical outline of the transformation process the legal aid programs underwent in the past. During the second half of the 20th century the change of legal mobilizations and legal practices which target disadvantaged people correlated closely with the evolution of social policies. Particular attention is given to the progressive formation of non-professional groups, specialized in legal information and legal advice. I also analyze how these non-lawyers mobilize and refer to law. However, while innovative legal mobilization makes its appearance, old types of legal mobilization do not just vanish; this phenomenon makes legal mobilizations more diversified and complex. It also offers new opportunities for lawyers and non-lawyers to mobilize law in order to serve the disadvantaged. The examination of the lawyers and non lawyers’ strategies to be recognized as participants in legal aid policies constitutes the second part. I thereby analyze innovative social and political mobilizations of law how lawyers and local Bars attempt to preserve their professional jurisdiction as well as how non-legally-trained actors try to be recognized. The objective is to demonstrate empirically that the cooperation and the actors’ strategies can be fully understood by studying how lawyers and non-lawyers define legal mobilizations. Indeed, the actors’ main incertitude lies in defining which legal mobilizations are legitimate and which are not. The comparative approach of the thesis highlights peculiar national characteristics, particularly concerning the relationship among the State and “intermediate actors”, i.e. lawyers, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and, in France, local authorities (collectivités territoriales). In the legal aid sector, there are two models of governance. The French one relies on the delegation of social exclusion handling from the national state to NGOs and local authority. This process comes with a permanent control from the national state which seeks to preserve its authority to determinate policies in the legal sector. The Belgian one is based on the recognition of the lawyers’ activities by the State through a process I qualify as “mutual instrumentalization” between public authorities and intermediate actors. In the third part I analyze legal mobilizations in legal aid policies. Considering the translation of social problems into legal vocabulary as a political process, I contributed to the understanding of the relationship between lawyering and social change by underlying different ways of translations. Legal practices, professional belonging, and lawyers’ commitments are very heterogeneous. Nevertheless, I constructed a typology of legal mobilizations and legal practices. In a context where the transformation of social policies seeks to empower laypeople, lawyers are encouraged to intervene before litigations in order to pass “legal consciousness” on laypeople. Through this process, citizens could be able to defend and promote their rights in everyday life. In summary, my thesis underlines the tensions between the different kinds of legal mobilizations which refer to a specific definition of relationship between law and politics. [less ▲]

La prévention par le droit. Territoires et division du travail juridique en France

in SociologieS (2010)

In a way to promote access to justice and legal services for disadvantaged people, French Justice Department created a new kind of occupation: proximity lawyers. This article analyses how traditional ... [more ▼]

In a way to promote access to justice and legal services for disadvantaged people, French Justice Department created a new kind of occupation: proximity lawyers. This article analyses how traditional lawyers and proximity lawyers negotiate the division of work, as well as how it reshapes relationships between national Justice Department and the states (collectivités territoriales). [less ▲]

Les usagers, au coeur de la "modernisation" de la justice belge?

in Revue Nouvelle (Brussels, Belgium) (2010), 65(1), 61-67

La Justice joue à la fois le rôle de service public et de pouvoir judiciaire qui exerce des prérogatives de la puissance publique, et la défi nition même de ses « usagers » est polysémique. L’analyse des ... [more ▼]

La Justice joue à la fois le rôle de service public et de pouvoir judiciaire qui exerce des prérogatives de la puissance publique, et la défi nition même de ses « usagers » est polysémique. L’analyse des multiples acceptions du terme permet de souligner les enjeux des réformes en cours. La création des maisons de justice à la fi n des années nonante illustre de manière exemplaire le recours à la rhétorique des usagers, placés au coeur de la « modernisation » de l’institution judiciaire ainsi que les enjeux liés à la défi nition du contenu de cette notion. De manière plus générale, ce recours à l’usager lance un nouveau défi à l’institution judiciaire, amenée à se positionner par rapport aux questions de « modernisation » et de management, sans négliger pour autant les risques qu’engendrerait une banalisation de la fonction de Justice. [less ▲]

French Affirmative Action Based upon Spatial Inequalities: the case of inner city “Neighborhood Law and Justice Centres”

Conference (2009, May 29)

In 1998, the French Parliament enacted a law regarding the struggle against discrimination . In response to this legislation, the French Minister of Justice implemented a new judicial structure (the ... [more ▼]

In 1998, the French Parliament enacted a law regarding the struggle against discrimination . In response to this legislation, the French Minister of Justice implemented a new judicial structure (the "Houses of Law") in areas which had been defined as "districts in difficulty" or "areas where the law is not applied anymore." The purpose of this structure was to provide advice to inner city inhabitants within these Houses of Law with the aim to reduce inequalities between the citizens who can hire private lawyers and the ones who cannot. First, this research examines the means by which the French Government implemented these affirmative action policies, which are an obstacle in the state's pursuit of the principle of equality; a fundamental precept of the French Republic . Instead of focusing on people, governmental policy targeted geographic areas, specifically inner city. Secondly, this research studies the work of private lawyers operating within the public sector judicial structures and asks whether these "Houses of Law" are equitable arrangements for all citizens due to their locational situation. [less ▲]

Le rôle politique des professionnels du droit dans la lutte contre les inégalités d'accès à la justice en Belgique et en France

Scientific conference (2009)

Le profane en politique. Compétences et engagement du citoyen

in Droit et Société (2009), 71

Réparer et accompagner: Redéfinitions normatives et recompositions organisationnelles de l’activité judiciaire

in Schoenaers, Frédéric (Ed.) Regards croisés sur le nouveau management judiciaire (2008)

a justice est longtemps apparue comme l’affaire de l’Etat et des professionnels du droit. Depuis une vingtaine d’années, ces derniers ont dû composer avec l’arrivée de nouveaux acteurs alors même que les ... [more ▼]

a justice est longtemps apparue comme l’affaire de l’Etat et des professionnels du droit. Depuis une vingtaine d’années, ces derniers ont dû composer avec l’arrivée de nouveaux acteurs alors même que les attentes adressées à l’appareil judiciaire, ainsi que ses fonctions, étaient appelées à se redéfinir. Nous proposons ici d’analyser certaines recompositions normatives à l’œuvre dans le champ judiciaire ainsi que certaines transformations organisationnelles, notamment dans les interactions entre les acteurs de la justice. [less ▲]

Recompositions et démonopolisation de l’activité judiciaire

Conference (2007, May 23)

Aux frontières de la justice, aux marges de la société : une analyse en groupes d'acteurs et de chercheurs

in Droit et Société (2007), 65

La dimension politique de la justice de proximité: les maisons de justice et du droit en France

Master of advanced studies dissertation (2006)