La répression judiciaire de l’activité et de la propagande communiste des années 1920 à la Libération : entre rupture et continuité de l’infraction politique en droit français

After the Russian revolution of 1917, French society of the early 20’s is marked by the fear of a communism insurrection. This communist "threat" (Monier, 1998, p. 89 et seq.) quickly spreads within courts, where judges are in charge of repressing it. That being said, far from merely imple...

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Main Author: Jacques Duret
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: Université Jean Moulin - Lyon 3 2023-01-01
Series:Cahiers Jean Moulin
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/cjm/1721
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author Jacques Duret
author_facet Jacques Duret
author_sort Jacques Duret
collection DOAJ
description After the Russian revolution of 1917, French society of the early 20’s is marked by the fear of a communism insurrection. This communist "threat" (Monier, 1998, p. 89 et seq.) quickly spreads within courts, where judges are in charge of repressing it. That being said, far from merely implementing the criminal strategy defined by the government against those accused, judges do not hesitate to play a significant part in having communist defendants be no longer considered as political criminals but as social criminals. This evolution of the concept of political offense raises many questions amongst authors, which will lead judges to adapt their approaches against such defendants.After the First World War, common law jurisdictions are hesitative with regards to the repression of first communist defendants. Subsequent governments are then looking for the ideal system with the assistance of the judges. Faced with the absence of exceptional jurisdictions and of a specific repressive law, judges will assimilate communist actions to anarchist activities, which have been punished for a long time through the "monstruous" laws. The French Supreme Court approves such judgements. Though deeply criticised by certain legal authors, this case law will last under the Vichy government, and will prove very useful for the fight of the État français against its natural enemies, the communists, in particular with respect to the setting-up of the sections spéciales. This also leads to question the position of French judges with respect to these defendants and its reasons.
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spelling doaj-art-152e2ded5a2c4e7abb8fbe5a4ae034d12025-08-20T02:02:28ZfraUniversité Jean Moulin - Lyon 3Cahiers Jean Moulin2553-92212023-01-01810.4000/cjm.1721La répression judiciaire de l’activité et de la propagande communiste des années 1920 à la Libération : entre rupture et continuité de l’infraction politique en droit françaisJacques DuretAfter the Russian revolution of 1917, French society of the early 20’s is marked by the fear of a communism insurrection. This communist "threat" (Monier, 1998, p. 89 et seq.) quickly spreads within courts, where judges are in charge of repressing it. That being said, far from merely implementing the criminal strategy defined by the government against those accused, judges do not hesitate to play a significant part in having communist defendants be no longer considered as political criminals but as social criminals. This evolution of the concept of political offense raises many questions amongst authors, which will lead judges to adapt their approaches against such defendants.After the First World War, common law jurisdictions are hesitative with regards to the repression of first communist defendants. Subsequent governments are then looking for the ideal system with the assistance of the judges. Faced with the absence of exceptional jurisdictions and of a specific repressive law, judges will assimilate communist actions to anarchist activities, which have been punished for a long time through the "monstruous" laws. The French Supreme Court approves such judgements. Though deeply criticised by certain legal authors, this case law will last under the Vichy government, and will prove very useful for the fight of the État français against its natural enemies, the communists, in particular with respect to the setting-up of the sections spéciales. This also leads to question the position of French judges with respect to these defendants and its reasons.https://journals.openedition.org/cjm/1721political justicesocial crimepolitical crimeanticommunismÉtat françaisjudicial activism
spellingShingle Jacques Duret
La répression judiciaire de l’activité et de la propagande communiste des années 1920 à la Libération : entre rupture et continuité de l’infraction politique en droit français
Cahiers Jean Moulin
political justice
social crime
political crime
anticommunism
État français
judicial activism
title La répression judiciaire de l’activité et de la propagande communiste des années 1920 à la Libération : entre rupture et continuité de l’infraction politique en droit français
title_full La répression judiciaire de l’activité et de la propagande communiste des années 1920 à la Libération : entre rupture et continuité de l’infraction politique en droit français
title_fullStr La répression judiciaire de l’activité et de la propagande communiste des années 1920 à la Libération : entre rupture et continuité de l’infraction politique en droit français
title_full_unstemmed La répression judiciaire de l’activité et de la propagande communiste des années 1920 à la Libération : entre rupture et continuité de l’infraction politique en droit français
title_short La répression judiciaire de l’activité et de la propagande communiste des années 1920 à la Libération : entre rupture et continuité de l’infraction politique en droit français
title_sort la repression judiciaire de l activite et de la propagande communiste des annees 1920 a la liberation entre rupture et continuite de l infraction politique en droit francais
topic political justice
social crime
political crime
anticommunism
État français
judicial activism
url https://journals.openedition.org/cjm/1721
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