3251 European Central Countries Perspectives on Sociology of Law
WG Social and Legal Systems
Room: C5.01
Chair: Renata Almeida da Costa
Discussant: Adam Czarnota
Chandni Basu | Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg
The juvenile justice system in India - creating the new ethic of the 'child' in Indian society
Abstract
The setting up of a separate juvenile justice system within India in recent years has brought forth newer engagements with the child/legal minor in Indian society. It has rearticulated ideas of juvenile justice and child protection. Legal subjectivity of the child has not only raised identification of children as a pertinent issue, it has put the notion of childhood under interrogation. Who is a child and what consists of childhood therefore have emerged as important questions within the legal domain of the juvenile justice system in India. Impetus of setting up the juvenile justice system following an international mandate further puts forth the apparent tension between the global and the local in this respect. This paper attempts to highlight the role of the juvenile justice system within India in recent years, towards crystallising notions of privileged and marginal childhoods. It puts into perspective the role of law and legality in defining zones by chalking boundaries. The importance of law lies in terms of its inherent ethical and moral stance on society. In this sense, formalisation of the Indian juvenile justice system forwards the Weberian thought where increased laws and institutionalisation are taken as a sign of development. It further puts into perspective the influence of international legal regimes towards such ‘development’. What does this connote in terms of the distinction of privileged and marginal childhoods and the legal subjectivity of the child/legal minor? How does the juvenile justice system then contribute towards creating the new ethic of the 'child' in Indian society?
Susana Costa | Centro de Estudos Sociais
Travelling to Prüm: Between and beyond borders – Perspective of Portuguese Judges
Abstract
Since 2005 the international cooperation between EU Member states regarding the fight against transnational crime, terrorism and illegal immigration, started to be implemented through the so-called Prüm Decisions. In a society increasingly dominated by fear and insecurity, Prüm promises to reach the European Dream aided by the expansion of technologies. Through the exchange of DNA profiles, fingerprints and vehicle registration data, Prüm aims to blur the boundaries of law exchanging data across european countries, although dependent on the application of local rules. Based on 14 interviews done to Portuguese Judges during 2017 and taking as a starting point the concept suggested by Sabina Leonelly of “data journey” we will try to understand how does data travel in Prüm. Secondly, we will analyze the ethical, political, legal and social challenges that are posed in this travel. And, finally, the impact that the European dream entails to the lives of the citizens who enter this trip. We argue that regarding the use of technology there is an inverse relationship between the trust that judges place in the work developed by actors and institutional bodies during the travel within borders and when data travels beyond national borders. Within borders it is assumed a confident position about the work developed by the other actors of the legal system, resting on the legal safeguards that the Portuguese legal system ensured. On the other hand, when data travels beyond borders some fears are perceived in their narratives highlighting their suspicious and the challenges that Prüm brings to human rights.
Sandrine Brachotte, Sciences Po Law School, Paris
Combining legal pluralism as a normative concept with private international law techniques to deal with ‘unsolvable’ cases? The example of the UK arbitration case Jivraj, an imbroglio of state law, Ismaeli law, and commercial arbitration principles
Abstract