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Admin GD — 2025-01-25T04:14:23Z

September 2024: The Chronicle of Living Law is finally born after a long period of development!

Genesis

The International Institute of French Expression and Inspiration Law (IDEF) www.institut-idef.org successfully completed an outstanding task of compiling and formatting comparative case law in business law, which resulted in the drafting of the Annotated OHADA Code (Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa).

"Comparative case law helps to better understand the cultural differences and political choices underlying judicial decisions. It also contributes to the development and harmonization of international law." www.institut-idef.org/jurisprudences-compar%C3%A9es

The IDEF India association, the Indian section of this international institute, convinced that this work should be seen as a precursor to a broader cooperation task among jurists worldwide, decided to focus on a different field since business law was already addressed. The choice quickly turned to "human rights".

This is where the Indian specificity came into play. "Why only humans? That's a narrow and restrictive, anthropocentric view," objected Reena Iswariya, a board member. It was thus decided to work on living law.

Preparatory Work

Several questions then arose: How to create an annotated code in this context? There is no reference text or principle of law that jurists from at least part of the world can refer to. While the agreement on the thing and the price can establish a contract is a rule that can certainly have variations but remains a reference, living law is too new for this format to be used.

We then wondered what is meant by living. Clara Guertin, then an intern at the EFB, worked on the issue, and a collaborative intelligence session was organized in Pondicherry on 13.11.2017.

It emerged that cultural differences were fundamental in the plurality of definitions to be retained, as the notion of a boundary is much more flexible for Indians, including jurists. For example, when asked whether a deceased person could be considered as living, the French responded "clearly not!" and the Indians "they are alive in a different way".

This workshop raised more questions than it provided answers, so reflections took the necessary time to mature. A "great cases of living law" format was considered but abandoned because it would only cover case law and litigation, leaving out laws and local regulations, as well as doctrine.

Thus, after much reflection, the Chronicles of Living Law were born. The next step was to find a captain to steer this new vessel through uncertain waters, as Professor Mercadal did for the Annotated OHADA Code, and to establish a framework for publication.

The Launch of the Chronicles

The Framework

There were convergences with the work and reflections of the International Happiness Observatory, whose Journal of Happiness Law, initially bilingual, then trilingual, was published online in 2019. Unanimously, the board members of the two institutions decided that it was within the framework of this international journal that they would develop and feed these Chronicles in partnership.

The Engine…

…as one is always needed, is Victor David in synergy with the members of the Scientific Committee and the members of IDEF India, an institution of which he is also a part. His skills and research field naturally designated him for this role.

Short biography

Born and raised in Pondicherry, Victor DAVID holds a doctorate in law and social sciences from the Université de Paris Sciences et Lettres/EHESS. He is a Research Fellow at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) and a Member of the Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie (IMBE). He is based in Marseille at the Faculty of Pharmacy at La Timone.

He studied law, political science, and British language and civilization at the University of Paris X Nanterre.

His current research activities and expertise focus on developments in environmental law, and he is a recognized specialist in the Rights of Nature field in France. His research also focuses on environmental health issues. Having lived for 20 years in New Caledonia, he is also interested in the rights of indigenous populations and in contexts of cultural and legal pluralism.

As part of its Voluntary Commitments to the United Nations Conference on the Oceans, Victor is also the IRD's project leader for a feasibility study on the recognition of the Mediterranean Sea (2022 - #OceanAction46735) as a natural legal entity, with the MerMéd Project.

Since December 2022, he has been a member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL).

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Admin GD — 2024-07-25T04:50:00Z

- Right of the living

OIB : observatoire internationale du bonheur

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