Documents found
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8401.
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8402.More information
The apotheosis of « the wider France » the colonial conception and french public opinion Raoul GirardetThe colonial exhibition organisai in Paris in 1951 marked the heyday of the colonial conception in the history of contemporary France. By comparison with the former period there was a perceptible increase in the interest takcn in the Overseas Empire and this can be seen in the press as well as in teaching or in romanesque literature. At the same time a relatively coherent doctrine of French imperialism was established : this doctrine was founded on the principle of « the wider France », that is on the extension of the traditional idea of national sovereignity to all the overseas territories. Nevertheless it was also during these years of apotheosis that the colonial conception was first questioned. The attacks were threefold : the campaign of the French communist party against imperialism, the denunciation of corrupt practices and scandais in the colonies and the questioning of the postulate of the cultural supremacy of the colonizing nation. It is nevertheless difficult to guage thé exact effects of such currents. By the reactions to which they gave rise these anticolonial attacks even resulted in certain milieux in a widening and deepening of the colonial idéal : the concept of the Empire was gradually supplanted by that of the Community.
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8405.More information
The preponderance of the État de droit in international political discourse warrants a comparison with the theory of the Rule of Law. The small number of comparative studies does not facilitate the exact determination of their reciprocal contents at the same time that implicit postulates of equivalence and concordance are developing. Discourse on basic rights and democracy favours this rapprochement within a perspective of the standardization of public law. Internationalization, indeterminacy and lack of differentiation among certain elements found in the problematics of the État de droit facilitate this comparison with the traditional demands of the Rule of Law. By recalling the special conditions that presided over the development of the État de droit notion and by a forced retrospective on the theoretical content of the Rule of Law, the author identifies elements of convergence and divergence. Despite differing origins, the two notions contribute — owing to the wealth of their content—to the empirical development of a syncretic model. Specific emphasis on the question of public law and the theory of the State within the problematics of the État de droit is conciliated without major difficulties with the traditional importance of referential values in the Rule of Law. To satisfy the demands of this rapprochement, a dilution of the original content of these two notions remains nonetheless the most plausible hypothesis as seen in the recent evolution of public law in Canada. In the Canadian context, this syncretism offers new perspectives for reflecting on the question of the general theory of the State and public law. It makes it possible to rejuvenate the question of public law within an evolution marked by the development of constitutional justice and the constitutionalization of law.
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8406.More information
Looking at Swiss administrative law from a Quebec perspective, this paper outlines some aspects of the Swiss system that provide useful models or references for the discussion and resolution of current issues in Canadian and Quebec administrative law. These issues are identified as (1) the proliferation of independent administrative agencies, and the means to control or at least systematize the growth of such structures ; (2) the desirability and feasibility of enacting general standards of procedure for administrative action ; (3) the simplification of remedies in the field of judicial review of administrative action ; (4) the desirability and feasibility of allocating judicial review powers to a specialized court, either within or outside the Superior Court ; and (5) the desirability and form of a procedure allowing for political intervention in the decision-making process of independent agencies. In the light of these issues, the paper describes the allocation of review functions between administrative and judicial bodies in Swiss federal law. The structure and activity of the Swiss Federal Court (Tribunal fédéral), and especially of the division of the Court that deals with most administrative law cases, are outlined in some more detail. A short historical sketch leads to a discussion of the corresponding features of the law in some of the cantons, and to consideration of the special position given to social security matters in the general scheme of administrative law. The paper then focusses on administrative action itself, commenting on the most significant provisions in the Federal Administrative Procedure Act (Loi fédérale sur la procédure administrative) of 1968. Special attention is paid to the process of review within the administration, up to the level of the federal cabinet (Conseil fédéral). Corresponding provisions in the law of some of the cantons are also briefly discussed. The description of the federal review process is then completed by an outline of the procedure for judicial review of administrative action by the Federal Court (Recours de droit administrative). Finally, notice is again taken of the special position of social security as regards administrative procedure. The paper draws attention, in its concluding part, to the most interesting insights provided by Swiss law into the current problems of Canadian and Quebec administrative law. The growth of administrative tribunals has been brought under control by structural arrangements, especially in the field of social security. The introduction of general standards of procedure has brought greater uniformity and clarity, has emphasized the unity of administrative process including the review phase before administrative or judicial authorities, and has strenghtened the rule of law over government action. The existence of a single procedure to invoke judicial review eases access to the court. While in many cases review by the court is excluded, these exclusions have to be specific, and leave full opportunity for review within the administration, with adequate safeguards provided by the Administrative Procedure Act. Specialization occurs within the Federal Court, and does not involve a rigid separation between judges applying administrative law and judges applying other branches of the law, as in France or Germany. Finally, ultimate political control over certain types of decisions is admitted as a part of life in Swiss federal law, but is at the same time subjected to a quasi-judicial procedure which makes it an acknowledged source of administrative justice.
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8410.