Les bases éthiques pour le droit et la société

Book excerpt: Problèmes de Conflits de Lois en Matière de Filiation, Jacques Foyer Jacques Foyer, Professor at the University of Paris II, notes in introduction of his course that it can be enlightening to compare the different modern methods of solution of the conflict of laws regarding filiation. The study of the different systems shows that there exist at least three methods to contradict the classic choice-of-law rule. The course is structured around the analysis of these three methods. Firstly, it is the criticism of the rigid character and the unpredictability of the traditional rule that triggers the temptation of a manipulation of the choice of law rule. The author then points out that one could question its abstract and arbitrary character, which leads on the one hand to an attempt to hierarchization, and on the other hand, to a diversification of the choice-of-law rules. Lastly, it is the principle of the foreign law's purpose to govern legal relationships in the same way as the lex fori that is questioned, which leads to its partial elimination to the profit of a more or less systematic application of the territorial law or of the one of the court hearing the action. General Course on Private International Law, Friedrich K. Juenger According to Friedrich Juenger, Professor at the University of California in Davis, the outstanding characteristic of the conflict of laws is the lack of consensus on the discipline's goals and methods. He proposes to put the accent in his course on the events for which public international law must find a solution in order to avoid the constant danger that threatens the discipline: that is, to become a simple academic game. Three examples of reported cases and the kinds of issues they raise are given in the Introduction. Professor Juenger next gives a detailed historical overview of the conflict of laws, from Antiquity to Mancini. In addition, the author presents the emergence of new orthodoxies, or rather proposes to re-examine the traditional doctrines, and points out the advantages of a teleological approach. That allows him to revisit the three cases mentioned in the Introduction. Les Bases éthiques pour le Droit et la Société Perspectives de la Commission indépendante sur les questions humanitaires internationales, Sadruddin Aga Khan Conference of July 30, 1985 Sadruddin Aga Khan, President of the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues, recalls in his course on the ethical bases of law and society that the role of the commission he presides is to remind us of the basic elements of a code of ethics which has the same spiritual significance as that found in all major religions. Lawyers as well as scientists, adds the author, must mobilize their immense resources, bearing in mind that the rule of law should never disregard moral appreciation.