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This paper presents an empirical analysis of the link between patent damage awards and patent quality, based on information from suits filed during the period 2008-2013 in France. Our results show that civil damage awards attributed by French judges are significantly linked to patent quality, as assessed from a statistical point of view, but this link is imperfect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to provide justice at reasonable cost represents a current challenge for many public authorities. Many reform projects propose to remove some courts in order to rationalize the judiciary. This paper explores the 2008 French reform of labor courts (removing 20 % of the courts) to empirically investigate the determinants of the removal decision, and its consequences on demand for litigation and case duration in the remaining courts. This represents-to our knowledge-the first attempt to evaluate the impacts of courts' removal. Using panel data, our empirical strategy is based on probit estimations, counterfactuals, as well as 3SLS estimations. Our results show that the reform removed small and concentrated courts. It decreased demand for litigation in the targeted areas. Results also suggest that case duration might have increased in some specific courts since 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how the "digitizing" of the press transforms the writing of news in France, through the case of a recent trial, the "Carlton affair" in February 2015. The example chosen is that of Le Monde, which dedicates a blog to legal affairs that is overseen by an experienced journalist who also covers the same questions for the print version of the paper. How does the author take advantage of this double space of publication? Which kind of writing is the freer and the more literary or sophisticated? It appears that web newswriting does not give much importance to the dialog with the reader, but is rather an opportunity to try out ways of telling the story before giving it to the print version. In court journalism the print press still commands the greater prestige and gets more editorial support, whereas blogs or other digital content are used to compensate for the lack of space in the daily press. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Discusses a case concerning night flights and Strasbourg, France's retreat from environmental human rights handled by the European Court of Human Rights. Facts and background of the cases; Review of related to laws; Bases of the court's decision.

Based on cross‐national comparative research conducted in France and the United Kingdom, this article explores to what extent and under what conditions trade unions situated in different legal systems have turned to the courts to challenge discrimination at work. It investigates the interplay between a broad range of structural factors that offer specific opportunities, and the way in which trade unionists interpret contexts to promote legal mobilization in addition to or in place of other repertoires of action. In so doing, the article contributes to the understanding of anti‐discrimination law enforcement and the role of micro‐level actors in enabling litigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the early modern period, French law forbade unsanctioned marriages between minors, a crime classified as "seduction." Men who wed without the consent of their bride's parents earned the designation "seducers" and faced the potential of capital punishment. By the mid-eighteenth century, notorious seduction cases assumed outsize significance because of radical changes in legal culture. From the 1760s until the eve of the Revolution, defense lawyers wielded the legal brief as a powerful instrument of public opinion, criticizing parental control over marriage and championing free choice in its place. These men transformed seduction cases into referendums on paternal power--and, by extension, the power of the monarchy itself. While historians have long examined politically charged critiques of paternal power during this period, this article explores these critiques' unique implications for unwed women. It illustrates how celebrated lawyers mobilized language of Enlightenment to carve out discursive space in which young women exercised autonomy vis-à-vis their parents. Nevertheless, it also argues that these same legal discourses constrained female happiness to the realm of marriage to sooth anxieties about the threat that disobedient daughters posed to family, social, and gender order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a database on French labor courts between 1998 and 2012, we investigate case selection and judicial decision-making. In France, judges are elected at the labor court level on lists proposed by unions, and litigants can first try to settle their case before the judicial hearing. We show that the ideological composition of the court indirectly impacts the settlement behavior of the parties but has no influence on the decision made in court. In addition, parties have self-fulfilling behavior and adapt to institutional rules. When they anticipate long judicial procedures at court, they settle more frequently and only require judicial hearings for complex cases. The duration to decide these complex cases is longer, explaining why they observe (and build their anticipation on) long case duration. Our empirical strategy uses probit, ordered probit and triprobit estimations to control for case selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the potential impact of various proposed reforms intended both to improve the quality of expert testimony, while reducing its cost and facilitating the work of courts in appointing experts and reading their reports. We present a unilateral care model under strict liability, in which the court cannot perfectly observe the amount of harm a tortfeasor has caused to a victim. However, the judge may appoint an expert to improve his chance of reaching a correct decision. In this context, we find that the likelihood of a victim filing a lawsuit decreases with the quality of the expert testimony and with the cost of the expertise procedure. The chances of filing increases with the non-monetary cost for the judge to appoint an expert. Moreover, we find that the effects of these parameters on the injurer’s level of precaution are ambiguous. We also find that the injurer’s level of care is suboptimal. Finally, we suggest some public policy recommendations in order to (1) increase the injurer’s level of care and (2) reduce the expected cost of a trial in the event of an accident. We find that policy makers face a trade-off between these two objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any person who is a party to a lawsuit acts or reacts: the claimant raises claims and the defendant counters them. Under this litigation context, the Romanian NCPC expresses - for the first time in our procedural legislation - the modern concept according to which defense is a way of expressing the civil action and makes a fundamental classification of the defenses in justice (“substantive” and “procedural”). The action includes two categories of procedural means: those for the protection of the subjective right claimed by one of the parties and those for providing the defense of the lawsuit parties . In France, this concept, which reflects the diversity of civil action and of the means of defense, has been regulated for over four decades. This is precisely why we intended to make a comparison with the French judicial system, which can be beneficial on several plans, because legislative reforms are often preceded by comparative studies. Such a comparison improves the critical knowledge of our law: Romanian lawyers can better perceive what is latent, constant, which has been insufficiently explored in the own law. Foreign jurisprudence may also provide new assessment elements to the Romanian legislator either to apply common rules to several states or to construe the national law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand how the idea of freedom operates in seventeenth-century France, and in libertine writing in particular, this article argues that it is important to take into account new social and spatial constraints that arose in the period, as well as the fictional figures of libertine travel writing. French libertine conceptions of freedom are then seen primarily as the reflection of a developing practice of mobility. To give substance to the hypothesis of a relationship between mobility, moral geography, and conceptions of freedom, the article contrasts two examples of attitudes to kinds of freedom in the French libertine world. The first example is that of French libertines themselves, and their relationship to the decline of liberty in France which took place in the aftermath of Theophile de Viau’s trial. The second is centred on the banks of the Ganges and the experience of libertine travellers to India in the mid-seventeenth century. The suggestion is that libertine travelling culture modified its representations of freedom by introducing anthropological and comparative dimensions to the discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conceived from its inception as a tool for the depoliticization of disputes involving a foreign investor and a sovereign state, Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) has emerged as a popular alternative to state justice and diplomatic protection and it has evolved into the centrepiece and guarantor of the international system of investment protections. And yet, despite the common perception of its neutrality as a forum for the non-political resolution of disputes, the scope of subject matters that fall within the purview of arbitral control and the utilization of political means by states and investors alike in order to interfere with or influence the arbitral process shed light on some unusual aspects of investment arbitration and reveal that ISDS has been heading down a trajectory of repoliticization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to analyze the precise role of environmental civil liability in France. We do so by focusing on data from France, and claim that judges in fact seize hold of the possibility of combining regulation and civil liability. In other words, civil liability and regulation are complementary because they promote a duty of care in different ways. Moreover, judges and regulators interact; they provide each other with relevant information that is mutually beneficial for the maintenance of standards. Based on a unique database – that gathers all the litigations concerning environmental accidents judged by the French Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation) from 1956 to 2010 – we conclude that judges heavily rely on prior regulation, especially in cases of causal uncertainty. We argue that particularly in those cases where liability would traditionally be weak, courts tend to rely on breaches of regulation as evidence of increased risk of an activity by the perpetrator. On the other hand, judges can hold regulators liable when regulators did not monitor a regulated plant and this threat provides regulators with incentives to design and to apply stringent standards over risky activities. For these reasons, we conclude that regulation and civil liability should be jointly used to promote smart interdependencies that mitigate civil liability and regulatory failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

French tort law is well known for its victim-oriented approach and is, in the eyes of many, the very example of what should not be done if the floodgates of litigation and compensation are to be kept closed. Yet, despite their breadth, the rules of tort law have not wrought the kind of havoc in France's society and economy that one might have expected. It is this article's hypothesis that at least part of the explanation for this lies in the culture surrounding French tort law. The article thus investigates the important elements of the culture, particularly the broader legal and social context, of which French tort law is a part, as well as the mentality and habits of tort law's key ʻplayersʼ namely, legal academics, judges and attorneys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the two rulings added by the European Court of Justice to its jurisprudence on cross-border access to healthcare. It cites the judgments by the European Commission in Commission v. France and Georgi Ivanov Elchinov v. Natsionalna zdravnoosiguritelna kasa. It is noted that these cases cannot be labeled as revolutionary judgments altering legislative regime although the judgments can provide clarification on when the Member States can impose prior authorization requirements.

The article discusses the court case Syska v. Vivendi Universal SA wherein Poland-based Elektrim SA entered into an investment agreement with two Vivendi companies based in France. The investment agreement was governed by Polish law whereas, the arbitration agreement was governed by English law. Vivendi commenced an arbitration before a London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) arbitral tribunal pursuant to the arbitration agreement claiming approximately 1.9 billion euros.

The French medical accident compensation scheme, introduced in 2002, guarantees full compensation to the victims of serious medical accidents, irrespective of fault. Eight years after the scheme's inception, this article assesses the success of the redress regime so far, focusing in particular on the extent to which the regime has succeeded in achieving an appropriate balance between compensation and limiting cost, accountability and the promotion of openness. It argues that whilst the scheme facilitates the compensation of certain victims of medical accidents, retains the accountability of the medical profession and offers a less acrimonious redress mechanism than a traditional court action, these advantages have to be weighed against the resulting increased cost burden on the State, the fact that the scheme is unlikely to have a great impact on the reporting of accidents, and the increased overall complexity of the compensation and liability system in France. The article also considers to what extent the French experience is relevant in the broader European context. With cross-border patient movement increasing, differences in national solutions raise concerns as to disparities in redress rules depending on where the patient is treated. The issues with respect to medical accident redress which arise as a result of the European Commission's proposed directive on patient rights in cross-border health care are therefore briefly considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The seigneurial courts of pre-Revolutionary France have long had a bad press. Concerns about the capacity of "private" jurisdictions to cheat and oppress the local population loomed large in the pamphlets and cahiers of 1789, while many subsequent scholars were sure that seigneurial justice was incompatible with political and institutional "modernity." About a generation ago, however, some historians began to reassess the activities and usefulness of the Old Regime's seigneurial courts. In this article I take issue with recent analyses of this judicial system and its operations that focus primarily on magistrates and lawyers. Using examples of woodland contention in south-western France, I argue that it was litigants who played a large part in determining the course and outcome of a "disputing process" in the eighteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to consider the position of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Siliadin v. France, addressing the Court's interpretation of slavery under Article 1 of the Slavery Convention 1926 in the light of international law on slavery, and the criticism that the Court should have extended its capability under Article 41 of the European Convention to stipulate more extensive remedial measures. The article contrasts the Court's reasoning, to develop a diagnostic survey of definitions of slavery and servitude, and to identify a conflation or substitution of terminology within the anti-slavery field and a possible reduction in protection where forced labour is concerned. The author proceeds to evaluate some of the consequences of continual and inconsistent re-categorisation for national and international laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the functioning of court cases between "communautés," or bodies of non-noble landowners, and "seigneuries," or local lords, in rural Provence, France, in the 17th and 18th centuries. Though often seen as examples of judicial dysfunction, the long-running legal battles between noble (and therefore tax exempt) and non-noble landowners are instead discussed as functional arenas of communication and compromise between the two social groups. Court cases from the Provençal village of Cabannes are used as representative examples.

This article analyses two judgments by the ECHR on granting authorization to adopt to non-heterosexual people. E.B. v. France overturned Fretté v. France, establishing that refusing to grant adoption licences to gay, lesbian, and bisexual applicants is against the provisions of Article 14 (in conjunction with Article 8) of the European Convention. In Fretté, an adoption licence was not granted to a single gay man due to, notably, ‘lack of scientific consensus’ on the advisability of child rearing by non-heterosexuals. In E.B., it was established that prejudice against sexual minorities had ‘contaminated’ the reasoning of the French administrative courts. The cases are considered from a sociological viewpoint, stressing that it is of vital importance to look at the non-legal expertise, knowledge, and theories referred to. Because of the politicized nature of the issue, scientific consensus or lack of it cannot be considered the final yardstick, and judges and decision-makers are faced with an inevitable political choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the joined court cases of Chronopost SA and La Poste against Union francaise de l'express and other subjects, regarding the possible involvement of State aid in contravention of Article 87(1) European Commission. It discusses the set up of French postal monopoly and provision of commercial and logistic services to a separate entity. It also explores the complaint filed by the Syndicat francais de l'express international (SFEI), now known as the Union francaise de l'express (or Ufex).

In this article David Fancy contextualizes and discusses the Affaire Koltes that has occurred in French theatre over the past two years. Francois Koltes, brother and literary executor to French playwright Bernard-Marie Koltes (1941-1989), withdrew the rights from a French National Theatre, la Comedie Francaise, to his brother's play, Return to the Desert, after only thirty shows. At issue was the 'Arabness' of one of the characters cast. Suits and countersuits resulted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a comparative study of the restriction of state liability in tort on grounds of policy between English and French law. The droit administratif model is outlined, as well as a discussion on the policy rationales used as basis for restricting state liability. Constitutional restraints on judicial intervention, judicial deference to administrator's institutional expertise, liability and defensive administration and floodgates of litigation are discussed.

International business may have to cope with something new: U.S.-style class-action lawsuits may be coming to France. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the languages of art and institutional conflict in Paris, France, from 1766 to 1776. It talks about the significance of the 1766 lawsuit. A royal declaration issued on November 17, 1705 allowed the corporation of master painters and sculptors to secure official sanction for the maintenance of an academic school for the education of their apprentices and journeymen. According to the article, difference and hierarchy gave shape and meaning to certain fundamental labour relations in Paris in the 18th century. It is inferred that a dialogue of conflict does not undermine the democratic process in which it was rooted but merely forced a clarification of the lines of difference in order to avoid ambiguity in the moment of judgement.

In western Europe as well as in the United States, litigation often operates as a means of political contestation. This article draws on a study of land use disputes in similar U.S., French, and west German metropolitan areas to analyze cross-national differences in the way local political actors employ courts. More an extension of pluralist policymaking patterns in the United States, political litigation in the European settings occurs as part of starker challenges to corporatist and statist patterns. The contrast between centralized and federal governmental arrangements helps to explain why the political consequences of litigation in the French and the German settings also differ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the political role and the fate of French priest Jacques Roux. In 1790 Roux arrived in Paris and immediately plunged into revolutionary activity. By the end of the year he was already a member of the Club des Cordeliers. As vicar of Saint Nicolas, an important church in section Gravilliers, he became popular and was elected to represent his electors in the General Council of the Paris Commune in December 1792. Roux was alleged by his opponents of fanaticism, perfidy, and of other crimes. At last he was charged for misappropriation of funds which destroyed the political influence of Roux. He was imprisoned several times. He could not prove his innocence and died on February 10, 1794, committing suicide.