Engaging with court research: The case of French terror trials

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl.1732

Keywords:

Empirical court research, terrorism, multi-disciplinary research, French criminal prosecution, Investigación judicial empírica, investigación multidisciplinar, enjuiciamiento criminal francés, terrorismo

Abstract

Transnational legal research often tends to overlook the local management of justice. It often moves too quickly from the local to the trans/global level, without taking the necessary time to investigate local practices. In addressing this research gap, my aim is to “re-localize“ studies within their geographical context and analyze the trans/national dynamics from within, using a bottom-up approach based on ethnography. This article presents a prolonged ethnography carried between 2017 and 2022 within French terrorism courts by a multidisciplinary team. The article provides an overview of the methodology, highlights the key finding, and offers a methodological framework for future empirical court studies, with the intention of supporting researchers in their future studies.

La investigación jurídica transnacional a menudo tiende a pasar por alto la gestión local de la justicia. A menudo pasa demasiado rápido del nivel local al trans/global, sin tomarse el tiempo necesario para investigar las prácticas locales. Al abordar esta laguna en la investigación, mi objetivo es “relocalizar” los estudios dentro de su contexto geográfico y analizar las dinámicas trans/nacionales desde dentro, utilizando un enfoque ascendente basado en la etnografía. Este artículo presenta una etnografía prolongada llevada a cabo entre 2017 y 2022 dentro de los tribunales de terrorismo franceses por un equipo multidisciplinar. El artículo proporciona una visión general de la metodología, destaca el hallazgo clave y ofrece un marco metodológico para futuros estudios empíricos de tribunales, con la intención de apoyar a los investigadores en sus futuros estudios.

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Author Biography

Sharon Weill, The American University of Paris/Sciences Po

Dr. Sharon Weill. Associate Professor, The American University of Paris/Senior lecturer, Sciences Po Paris (PSIA). Email address: sweill@aup.edu

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Published

13-11-2023 — Updated on 20-12-2023

How to Cite

Weill, S. (2023) “Engaging with court research: The case of French terror trials”, Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 13(S1), pp. S225-S251. doi: 10.35295/osls.iisl.1732.