Abstract
France has a culture of problem-solving justice that is particularly evident in the field of criminal justice. The question may arise however, whether this is also the case in the field of administrative justice, which has a specific purpose directing it to verify whether the decisions of public administrations are legal and to quash them when they are not. The article investigates how the intervention of the French legislator and administrative case law have gradually developed legal tools and practices aimed at solving problems. Many of these tools and practices concern the implementation of alternatives to judgments that allow the parties to find an amicable solution, often with the help of the administrative judges. Yet there are also many tools that allow the judges to solve the problems through their court decisions. The article presents an analysis of the characteristics of French administrative justice as a problem-solving justice and questions the limits of this approach and its future evolution.
Highlights
The concept of problem-solving justice is not easy to handle
The term ‘problem’ is the key word, insofar as justice has become more conscious of the societal effects of its decisions and seems to be more inclined to play a social role, to get involved and to solve the problem in the long term, beyond the single drafting of a judicial decision.[1]
It can certainly be said that France has a culture of problem-solving justice if one takes into account, for example, in criminal justice, the judge responsible for the execution of sentences, identified as ‘the oldest Problem-Solving court’,3 and, in civil justice, the family judge and the judge supervising a guardianship
Summary
The concept of problem-solving justice is not easy to handle. In this concept, the term ‘problem’ is the key word, insofar as justice has become more conscious of the societal effects of its decisions and seems to be more inclined to play a social role, to get involved and to solve the problem in the long term, beyond the single drafting of a judicial decision.[1]. If problem-solving justice has only a limited approach in French administrative justice and was probably not intended to replace the traditional approach to the trial based on judicial review in respect of the administrative law by citizens and public administrations, certain elements may be observed as characteristics of problem-solving justice: the French administrative judge may be a member of a committee set up to deal with problems that involve an administration and citizens, she/he can proceed to conciliation within the court, she/he has tools for solving problems and users can ask her/him to solve a problem. As one of the mediators points out, if the compliance of law is important, ‘what I am trying to explain is that in difficult human situations, it would be good to instil a little equity’.35
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