Individualisme et communautarisme : l'individu, la famille et l'État en Europe occidentale

Abstract

Individualisai and Communautarianism : The Individual, the Family and the State in Western Europe. This paper was presented during the joint congress of the International Association of Legal Science and the American Society of Comparative Law, held in Provo (Utah, U.S. A.) in September 1992 on the topic of « Individualism and Communautarianism in Contemporary Legal Systems : Tensions and Accommodations ». The aim of the Conference was to compare the place and role of intermediary communities (the family, the business enterprise, the school, local or religious communities, trade unions, professional orders, etc.) between the individual and the State, in the context of contemporary legal Systems (Western and Eastern Europe, United States, Japan, Islamic countries, etc.). The paper presents a short introduction on the origins of the triad « Individual, Family, State ».This is followed by a brief comparison of the historical and philosophical bases underlying the différent legal approaches to family matters in common law and civil law countries. Then the author illustrates how private and public law (constitutional law and national family policies) in Western European countries, and the main European international institutions (the Council of Europe, the European Community and the European Court for Human Rights), attempt to establish in the contemporary context of evolving ideas and moral behaviour, a carefully measured equilibrium between individual and collective liberties and rights, including those of the family as a privileged domain for mediation between the individual and the State.