Les articles de ce dossier nous rappellent que le collectif de travail répond aux besoins d'appartenance et de reconnaissance des individus, qu'il se construit dans la diversité des personnalités avec des enjeux de cohésion, de sens et de sécurité au travail (parce que l'on s'y sent soutenu), mais aussi de qualité de la décision de justice ou du service rendus au justiciable.

Ainsi, si prendre soin des collectifs de travail dans les métiers de la justice passe sans aucun doute par le soin accordé aux individus qui les composent, il convient de garder à l'esprit que cette exigence s'inscrit aussi dans une dimension politique et institutionnelle. Citant Axel Honneth, l'un des auteurs de ce dossier rappelle que les espaces judiciaires, lieux où les sujets sont rendus à leur capacité de parler, d'argumenter et de s'opposer sans se massacrer, apparaissent comme des laboratoires de l'expérience démocratique » (Anne-Sophie de Lamarzelle).

Across the continent, universities once seen as bastions of independent thought now face increasing pressures; political interference, legal intimidation, censorship and chilling online harassement. This timely report, prepared by experts with in the framework of the Council of Europe's Expert Working Group on thr Democratic Mission of Higher Education, draws a stark portrait of how academic freedom is being undermined - quietly in some places, brazenly in others - and why it matters for us all.

Frome principle to practice, from outrage to action.

More than just a diagnosis, this report explores how multilateral co-operation can be a powerful force for resistance and renewal. It outline concrete measures, from legal safeguiards to early-warning systems, from support for threatened scholars to protections against strategics lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) that can help reclaim academic spaces as places of critical inquiry, democratic dialogue and civic recilience.

A call to defend the university as a democratic institution.

At its heart, this is not only a report about universities, it is about the future of democracy in Europe. Whether you are a policy maker, an educator, a student or a concerned citizen, this report invites you to understand the stakes and to join a broader effort to ensure that higher education remains a pillar of freedom, intergrity ans public good.

When parents separate, even with appropriate support, authorities are often faced with decisions that have a significant impact on children and those close to them. The consequences of such decisions can be life changing and reach well beyond childhood.

This Recommendation provides national authorities with guidance for considering all circumstances that may be relevant when assessing a child’s best interests in proceedings relating to parental separation. It also ensures that the substantial and procedural rights of children affected by such proceedings, including the right to be informed and to be heard, are fully implemented, and the principles of the rule of law, non-discrimination and the timeliness of proceedings are respected.

When children have to be placed into care, even with appropriate support, authorities are often faced with decisions that have a significant impact on children and those close to them. The consequences of such decisions can be life changing and reach well beyond childhood.

This Recommendation provides national authorities with guidance for considering all circumstances that may be relevant when assessing a child’s best interests in care proceedings. They also ensure that the substantial and procedural rights of children affected by such proceedings, including the right to be informed and to be heard, are fully implemented, and the principles of the rule of law, non-discrimination and the timeliness of proceedings are respected.

Yet, their voices often go unheard, excluded from decision-making tables, not respected or acted upon. In far too many places they face vicious hatred and discrimination.

To better support the human rights of Roma and Travellers, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, spent much of 2024 and 2025 travelling across Europe visiting and meeting with them. This book is the story of those encounters. It describes what he saw and heard. The book is also a wake-up call for everyone across the continent to help build a Europe that embraces everyone.

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights promotes awareness of and fosters the effective observance of human rights across the organisation's 46 member states. Michael O'Flaherty commenced his six year term in April 2024.

For several years now, the family has been undergoing major metamorphoses. Divorce, medically assisted reproduction, homoparentality, co-parentality and surrogate motherhood are redefining the contours of filiation and family ties. The "SME" family - father, mother and child - has been replaced by a plurality of models, raising concerns both for children's psychological health and for institutional equilibrium. Are they justified? How is the family changing? Towards what form is the family evolving?

Author

Irène Théry is a sociologist, director of studies at EHESS (Centre Norbert-Elias, Marseille) and a specialist in family law. She is notably the author of La Distinction de sexe. A new approach to equality (Odile Jacob, 2007) and the co-author of Filiation, origins, parenthood with Anne-Marie Leroyer (Odile Jacob, 2014).

Podcast

Did you enjoy the video encounter with Irène Théry and want to take your thoughts further? Discover an audio version of it thanks to this episode of our podcast, Le temps d'une rencontre. In 30 minutes of listening, you'll find the heart of our guest's theoretical-clinical development, but also enrichments, deepenings, links with other authors, other theorizations, even other fields of research such as anthropology or philosophy. All this, always to better care, counsel and advance.

Lola Isidro is a teacher-researcher in law, specializing in social law, and a lecturer at the University of Paris Nanterre. She wrote a thesis on L'étranger et la protection sociale, which was awarded the Défenseur des droits prize and published by Dalloz in 2017.

On lira dans ce numéro un premier éclairage sur les travaux de groupe avant qu'il ne rende son rapport à l'Institut des études et de la recherche sur le droit et la justice (IERDJ) fin 2023.

La parole est d'abord donnée aux juges. Au plus près de l'œuvre de justice, ils sont peu habitués à commenter leur travail. Le président du procès « V13 » et un juge assesseur, tous deux grands professionnels des assises, évoquent le long parcours qui fut le leur (8 sept. 2021-29 juin 2022), leurs principales difficultés mais aussi leurs émotions. Avec le bénéfice du recul de quelques mois, le président du procès des attentats de janvier 2015 (2 sept.-16 déc. 2020) s'interroge sur le sens d'un procès dit « historique » au regard de son expérience des procès pour crime contre l'humanité.

Outre les témoignages d'avocats et d'experts, on lira plus particulièrement celui de Georges Salines. Père d'une victime du Bataclan, il souligne la dimension de justice réparatrice de telles audiences c'est-à-dire l'émergence d'un dialogue accusés-parties civiles favorisé par la longue durée du procès. Pour autant, il ne confond pas le pardon qu'il ne peut accorder et la juste peine qu'il attend de la cour.

Ainsi, le centre de gravité du procès pénal habituellement centré sur l'accusé est métamorphosé par la densité émotionnelle des témoignages des parties civiles accompagnées de leurs avocats. Il s'apparente aux « commissions vérité » instaurées après des guerres ou des périodes de désordre en vue de reconstruire la paix. Sous cette forme inédite, il rejoint la volonté de toute une société de faire récit de l'événement qui l'a frappée, d'en comprendre le sens et de l'inscrire dans la mémoire collective.