Trust and the law in international child abduction cases

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1346

Keywords:

Trust, Transnationalisation, Sociology of Law, International Child Abduction, Confianza, transnacionalización, sociología jurídica, sustracción internacional de menores

Abstract

This article seeks to grasp the legal category of international child abduction through the conceptual lens of trust, from the standpoint of judges. In a more ambitious way, we delve into the relationship between law and trust in the context of the transnationalisation of family law. Going beyond the legal principle of mutual trust, we propose a solid conceptualisation of the notion of trust drawn from sociological theory and we analyse the issues that arises for judges both at the institutional and interactional levels. At the institutional level, we show how trust operates as a procedural mechanism that allows cooperation in the absence of explicit moral consensus, whilst at the interactional level, we demonstrate that trust is imbued with ethical value and pushes judges to be more open to foreign laws and culture.

Este artículo trata de comprender la categoría jurídica de la sustracción internacional de menores a través de la lente conceptual de la confianza, desde el punto de vista de los jueces. De forma más ambiciosa, profundizamos en la relación entre derecho y confianza en el contexto de la transnacionalización del derecho de familia. Más allá del principio jurídico de confianza mutua, proponemos un concepto de confianza extraído de la teoría sociológica y analizamos las cuestiones que se plantean a los jueces tanto a nivel institucional como interaccional. En el plano institucional, mostramos cómo la confianza funciona como un mecanismo procesal que permite la cooperación en ausencia de un consenso moral explícito, mientras que, en el plano interaccional, demostramos que la confianza está imbuida de valor ético y empuja a los jueces a estar más abiertos a las leyes y la cultura extranjeras.

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Author Biography

Olivier Struelens, Catholic University of Louvain

Olivier Struelens holds a PhD in sociology from the UCLouvain, Belgium. At the interface of disciplinary boundaries, his research has led him to develop an approach that takes the law seriously, immersing himself in legal complexities in order to draw out sociological reflections. Initially involved in the question of the political uses of law in social movements, he then took up the question of migration and the family. His doctoral thesis, defended in 2021, examines international parental abductions in the light of the notion of trust, opening up new reflections on the relationship between trust and law.

Post-doctoral researcher at Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.

Olivier.struelens@uclouvain.be

 

Centre de Philosophie du Droit (CPDR)

Collège Thomas More Place Montesquieu 2, L2.07.01

1348 Louvain-La-Neuve

Belgium

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Published

01-02-2024

How to Cite

Struelens, O. (2024) “Trust and the law in international child abduction cases”, Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 14(1), pp. 257–286. doi: 10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1346.