Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Law
The French Prosecutor As Judge. The Carpenter’S Mistake?, Mathilde Cohen
The French Prosecutor As Judge. The Carpenter’S Mistake?, Mathilde Cohen
Mathilde Cohen
In France as elsewhere, prosecutors and their offices are seldom seen as agents of democracy. A distinct theoretical framework is itself missing to conceptualize the prosecutorial function in democratic states committed to the rule of law. What makes prosecutors democratically legitimate? Can they be made accountable to the public? Combining democratic theory with original qualitative empirical data, my hypothesis is that in the French context, prosecutors’ professional status and identity as judges determines to a great extent whether and how they can be considered democratic figures.
The French judicial function is defined more broadly than in the United States, …
On The Linguistic Design Of Multinational Courts — The French Capture, Mathilde Cohen
On The Linguistic Design Of Multinational Courts — The French Capture, Mathilde Cohen
Mathilde Cohen
This Article discusses the importance of language in the institutional design of European and international courts, which I refer to as “linguistic design.” What is at stake in the choice a court’s official or working language? Picking a language has far-reaching consequences on a court’s composition and internal organizational culture, possibly going as far as influencing the substantive law produced. This is the case because language choices impact the screening of the staff and the manufacture of judicial opinions. Linguistic design imposes costs on non-native speakers forced to use a second (or third) language and confers a set of advantages …
When Judges Have Reasons Not To Give Reasons: A Comparative Law Approach, Mathilde Cohen
When Judges Have Reasons Not To Give Reasons: A Comparative Law Approach, Mathilde Cohen
Mathilde Cohen
Influential theories of law have celebrated judicial reason- giving as furthering a host of democratic values, including judges’ accountability, citizens’ participation in adjudication, and a more accurate and transparent decision-making process. This Article has two main purposes. First, it argues that although reason- giving is important, it is often in tension with other values of the judicial process, such as guidance, sincerity, and efficiency. Reason-giving must, therefore, be balanced against these competing values. In other words, judges sometimes have reasons not to give reasons. Second, contrary to common intuition, common law and civil law systems deal with this tension between …