Justice de proximité et proximité de la justice. Les maisons de justice et du droit

Abstract

Sous des dehors très consensuels, la notion de « justice de proximité » recouvre aujourd'hui des contenus multiples. L'article se donne pour objectif de contribuer à en préciser la portée, à partir de l'analyse de l'activité des maisons de justice du Rhône. Qu'il s'agisse du traitement de la petite délinquance ou de l'accès au droit, l'observation des pratiques conduit à relativiser l'ampleur d'une proximité géographique. De même, la proximité humaine a tendance à s'effacer, au profit de l'avènement d'une proximité temporelle. Cet effet des préoccupations identitaires de l'institution judiciaire rencontre en réalité — et c'est ce qui apparaît intéressant — les attentes des différents acteurs locaux. Ceux-ci semblent en effet valoriser, au moins autant que la justice de proximité, justice différente venue traiter les problèmes spécifiques de certains quartiers, la proximité de la justice, rapprochement d'une justice identique à elle-même, avec ses conséquences sur le plan tant symbolique qu'instrumental.

Justice De Proximité - The Growth of ‘Houses of Justice’ and Victim/Offender Mediation in France: A Very Unfrench Legal Response?

“…They have been reluctant to enter the logic of partnerships which such a policy has presented, for fear of compromise and of losing their identity. With the MJD, they have been able to keep the initiative and preserve their own authority, while being seen to incorporate their own logic with an external societal preoccupation (Faget, 1997;Wyvekens, 1996).…”

“…The report was the result of the work of a commission and recommended the speeding up of penal matters and the expansion of victim/ offender mediation. Both in the report and in subsequent official policy documents three central dynamics can be discerned (Wyvekens, 1996(Wyvekens, , 1997a):…”

“…The reality of mediation in MJD often reflects an awkward combination of dynamics both intrinsic and extraneous to the dominant legal culture as the preoccupations of urban policy and the need to modernise judicial institutions collide. For example, in the Lyon area the 4 MJD -in Bron, Vaux-en-Velin, Villeurbanne and the eighth arrondissement of Lyon -mediation is provided by retired prosecutors who are supported by a permanent 'médiateur', specialising in domestic disputes (Wyvekens, 1995). 8 Under pressure from the local bar association, this was seen to be a necessary compromise, albeit one that many proponents of mediation see as being the 'worst of all worlds'.…”

Crime and Justice in France

“…Several publications have examined whether the use of this concept has corresponded to any change in the way policies are implemented and whether the missions of the professions have been redefined. Wyvekens (1996Wyvekens ( , 1997 has described the transformations implied by the diffusion of justice de proximité. The most important of these is the growth of 'houses of justice', which are centres, often located in deprived urban areas that offer a range of services, including 'alternative' treatment of youth delinquency, usually through warnings or mediation, victim support and information about rights.…”

“…Wyvekens found that initiatives of this kind, originally introduced because of external pressures on judicial institutions, had been instrumentalized: they were used by judicial institutions as a means of producing more 'efficient' ways of responding to juvenile delinquency without becoming substantially involved in local partnerships and thus preserving authority and independence. She further found that 'houses of justice', in which magistrates are involved, were marked by bureaucratization and the search for quicker answers to 'petty' delinquency (Wyvekens 1996(Wyvekens , 1997.…”