Serge Guinchard (born May 9, 1946) is a French
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
who formerly taught at the Law School of
Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...
and
Jean Moulin University Lyon 3
The Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 (french: link=no, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3), also referred to as Lyon 3, is one of the three public universities of Lyon, France. It is named after the French Resistance fighter Jean Moulin and specialises ...
and most recently at
Panthéon-Assas University, where he is now
Professor emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
. He has also held political posts in the metropolitan government of Lyon.
Education
Guinchard was born in the
4th arrondissement of Lyon
The 4th arrondissement of Lyon is one of the nine arrondissements of the City of Lyon.
History
The 4th arrondissement of Lyon was created on 24 March 1852 (date of creation of the first five arrondissements), with the same borders of the old town ...
and was educated in
Caluire-et-Cuire
Caluire-et-Cuire (; frp, Caluéres-et-Cuéres) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France.
It is the fifth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' als ...
and the northern suburbs of Lyon. After completing his secondary education in Lyon,
he studied at the Faculty of Law of Lyon. He obtained his
J.D. in 1974 and the ''
Agrégation
In France, the ''agrégation'' () is a competitive examination for civil service in the French public education system. Candidates for the examination, or ''agrégatifs'', become ''agrégés'' once they are admitted to the position of ''professe ...
'' in law the year afterward.
Academic career
From November 1969 to September 1974 Guinchard was an Assistant in the Faculty of Law at the
University of Lyon 2
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
, then at Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 after its creation. He then became a lecturer at Lyon 3 until December 1975. From January 1976 to September 1980, he was a professor in the Faculty of Law at
Dakar University
Cheikh Anta Diop University (french: Université Cheikh Anta Diop or UCAD), also known as the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese physicist, historian and anthropologist Cheikh ...
, heading the Private Law Section from October 1978.
[ Coulon (2010), p. xvii.] He then returned to the University Jean Moulin Lyon III, serving as director of the insurance section then of the Institute of Judicial Studies ; he was Dean of the Faculty from May 1982 to September 1988. In 1988 he moved to
Panthéon-Assas University (Paris 2), where he was director of the Institute of Judicial Studies for ten years, from 1990 to 2000. In 2001–02, he headed the Center for Research into Justice and Alternative Modes of Conflict Resolution,
then from October 2001 to July 2003, he was director of the Center for Permanent Training.
He also served outside the university in several capacities: in 1988–89 and 1993–94, as head of the specialist commission on the legal disciplines for the
French University of the Pacific; from 1992 to 1999 as a member of the Commission on Education for the National Council of
Bar Association
A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...
s;
[ Coulon (2010), p. xix.] from 1991 to 1993 as director of the Bar Association training school for the Paris
Court of Appeal
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
;
from 1996 to 2000 as a member of the administrative board of the
National School for the Judiciary; and from 2000 to 2003 as director of legal studies at the
École Normale Supérieure
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
.
He also served on the jury for the national ''agrégation'' in private law and forensic science: in 1984, 1988–89, and 2000–01,
[ Coulon (2010), pp. xvii–xviii.] and from January 1992 to December 1995 was president of the National Council of Universities of which he was a member from 1987 to 1995 and again in 2000.
[ Coulon (2010), p. xviii.]
From 2003 his career became focused on administration when he became
rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of the
Academy of Guadeloupe, then in 2005 took up the same position at
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
, which he held for a year.
[ Coulon (2010), p. xiv.]
In June 2007 he became Professor Emeritus at Panthéon-Assas University, and in May 2010 a
Festschrift
In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
was published in his honour.
[ Coulon (2010)]
Legal reports
Guinchard has produced numerous reports at the request of international organizations and of the French and
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤠ðž ...
ese Ministries of Justice (France and Senegal), many of which led to legislation:
French Ministry of Justice
* Chairman of the Commission named for him established on January 18, 2008, by
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...
Rachida Dati
Rachida Dati (; ar, رشيدة داتي, link=no; born 27 November 1965) is a French politician who served as Member of the European Parliament, representing Île-de-France. Prior to her election, she held the cabinet post of Keeper of the Sea ...
, concerning the distribution of first instance civil litigation and possible civil diversions (including the issue of transferral to notaries of divorce by mutual consent) and criminal diversions. Report submitted June 30, 2008. The report contains 65 proposals for reform; , 26 had been enacted into law.
* Chairman of the Commission established on November 28, 2002, by Minister of Justice
Dominique Perben
Dominique Perben (born 11 August 1945) is a French politician. Born in Lyon, he was French Minister of Transportation from 2005 to 2007. He was previously Minister of Justice (2002–05), Minister of Civil Service and Administration (1995–199 ...
on the quality of civil justice.
[Records of the Department of Justice.] Specifically, implementation of a working group on training local judges and lay judges. Reports submitted in January and March 2003.
Commission's work behind the decree No. 2004-836 of 20 August 2004 on the reform of civil procedure.
* Chairman of a working group established by Minister of Justice
Jacques Toubon
Jacques Toubon (born 29 June 1941) is a right-wing French politician who held several major national and Parisian offices. He has been serving as Defender of Rights (Ombudsman) between 2014 and 2020.
Political career
Governmental functions
M ...
on foreclosure reform of foreclosure, July 1996–June 1997.
Bill introduced in November 2005, became Ordinance No. 2001-461 of 21 April 2006.
Senegalese Ministry of Justice
* Co-author of draft law on commercial companies and draft code, which became the fourth part of the Code of Obligations after its adoption by the Senegalese National Assembly.
Council of Europe
* Expert assessment of judicial system and criminal procedure in
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
with respect to its becoming a member of the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
and the
; expert mission to
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , hy, ÔµÖ€Ö‡Õ¡Õ¶ , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...
, September 1996; summary report submitted in 1997.
[ Coulon (2010), p. xx.]
NATO
* Summary report in October 1974 on research concerning consumer protection under French and Canadian law, funded by a research grant (
Laval University
Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of:
People
* House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne
* Laval (surname)
Places Belgium
* Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxemb ...
, July 1973;
University of Montreal
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
, September 1974).
Research and doctrinal positions
Comparative law
Recognizing the importance of studies in comparative law for training lawyers, Guinchard pursued such studies beginning with his second doctorate, for which his dissertation compared French and Swiss law. He studied the university system in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
in 1971
Dalloz Dalloz is a French publisher that specializes in legal matters and is France's main legal publisher. It was founded by Désiré Dalloz and his brother Armand in 1845. Dalloz was acquired by Groupe de La Cite in 1989. CEP acquired almost complete ...
, p. xxv. and in 1973–74 returned for a study of consumer protection under a NATO grant.
As dean of the Faculty of Law at Lyon (1982–88), one of his concerns was the development of exchanges with other European and with American universities including
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
, the
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
,
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
, the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
, Minneapolis, and
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...
, Missouri.
[ Coulon (2010), p. xvi.] He instituted seminars in foreign law conducted by visiting professors from countries including Germany, Belgium, Canada, and Israel. When in 1995 he founded the law review ''Justice'', published by Dalloz, he included a section on judicial systems in other countries, and also included such coverage in the journal ''Droit et procédures'', where he headed the scientific committee, then the peer.
Human rights
From the beginning of his doctoral studies in 1969, Serge Guinchard became interested in fields other than trial law, such as consumer protection and civil law. Some of his writings are outspoken, even caustic and cover responsibility for miscarriages of justice, and his books include proposals for reform. Some of these have led to changes in the law, while others have not. He has harshly criticized the function of the
Court of Cassation
A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
, the French supreme court, and contributed to the debate on judges' being
Freemason
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
s, regularly updated his contribution to the Dalloz Encyclopedia of Civil Procedure concerning the liabilities incurred due to miscarriages of public justice, and has studied judicial actions that may constitute a threat to human rights. and written on the removal of judges. In his writings he focuses on the assurance of rights as it emerges from the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights or, more recently, that of the Constitutional Council on priority issues of constitutionality, particularly in the areas of criminal procedure and jurisprudence.
Consumer protection
In 1970, Serge Guinchard proposed a series of consumer protection reforms, including the ability to give consumers the benefit of legal actions traditionally reserved for economic agents in competition law to stop illegal practices, the right to pursue collective action in defense of their combined affected interests,
The latter proposal made him a recognized expert in the ''French class action''. He was also interested in issues of misleading advertising, the right of legal action for consumer associations.
Abroad, Article 138a, § 2 of the Belgian judicial code (in the wording of the Act of December 3, 2006) follows this reflection.
Civil law and Muslim law
Guinchard wrote half of the definitions of y legal terms in the 1970 first edition of Civil Law Glossary in 1970, which he co-directs and has devoted his doctoral thesis in law (defended in June 1974)''The allocation of property in French private law: testing a general theory.''
His work on Heritage Trust have inspired the legislature to adopt the
Trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another
* Trust (bus ...
into French law Article 2011, in which heritage institutions, separate from the personal assets of the Trustee or the individual entrepreneur, are assigned to a specific purpose in the deed of trust or in the founding of the proprietorship,
In
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤠ðž ...
, where he was seconded as a professor at the Faculty of Law of Dakar from January 1976 to September 1980, Guinchard contributed, to disseminate knowledge of Senegalese family law, including the
Islamic law
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...
of estates), and, to reform the company law of this State. He published the first book addressing the legal status of Muslim in this country estates.
Justice and legal proceedings
On this field, author Bertrand Lissarague called him a "lord of the proceedings" in the
liber amicorum offered in May 2007.
Political activities
Guinchard was Deputy Mayor of
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
for two terms, from 1983 to 1995, and Vice-President of the Urban Community of Lyon from 1989 to 1995.
Honors
Serge Guinchard has received the following honors for his studies and publications:
*For his doctoral dissertation, ''La publicité mensongère en droit français et en droit fédéral suisse: étude comparative de l'autonomie au civil et au pénal d'un délit économique'', 1971:
**Award of the Legislative Academy
**1st prize,
French Center for Comparative Law
**
Ministry of Education
An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
award of funds for publication
*For his state doctoral thesis in law, ''L’affectation des biens en droit privé français'',
**1st prize, Superior Council of
Notaries at Law in France
**1st prize, National Association of Doctors of Law
* Henri Texier Prize for the defense of individual liberty,
Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, 2000, for ''Procédure pénale'', co-authored with Jacques Buisson.
In addition he has received the following awards:
* Medal of Honor of the Paris Bar, September 1993
* Medal of Honor of the National Chamber of Lawyers of the Appeals Courts, June 2004
* Medal of Honor of the Prefecture of Guadeloupe, September 2005
* 2008 Prize of the Association of European Mediators
Decorations
*
Knight of the Legion of Honor, 2005, bestowed by
François Fillon
François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...
, Minister of Education
* Officer of the
National Order of Merit, bestowed 2008
* Commander of the
Ordre des Palmes académiques
A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...
(knight, 1987; officer, 2001; commander, 2003
Publications
Editor
Serge Guinchard has edited or headed the editorial boards of the following publications:
* ''Encyclopédie Dalloz de procédure civile'', since 1992
* ''Lexique de termes juridiques'', since 1987 (co-director; published annually, 21st ed. 2013)
* ''Droit et pratique de la procédure civile''
* ''Droit et pratique des voies d'exécution''
*
Delict
Delict (from Latin ''dēlictum'', past participle of ''dēlinquere'' ‘to be at fault, offend’) is a term in civil and mixed law jurisdictions whose exact meaning varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction but is always centered on the notion of ...
- general discussion of this term in
civil law jurisdictions.
* General oral entrance examination for regional lawyer training centers: ''Préparation au grand oral'', Lextenso / Gazette du Palais, published annually
* "Hypercours" book series, Dalloz, co-director since 1999. For the subseries "Droit privé", 18 volumes.
* ''Comment devenir avocat?'' sub-series within Carrières judiciaires book series, Lextenso / Gazette du Palais, since 1994
* Chairman of reading committee and board of the journal ''Droit et procédures, Revue des huissiers de justice''
* Co-editor of the review ''Justices'' (1995–98); then editor of ''Justice'' (2000–01
* Co-editor of ''Revue générale des procédures'' (1998–99)
Theses
* ''La publicité mensongère en droit français et en droit fédéral suisse: étude comparative de l'autonomie au civil et au pénal d'un délit économique''. Dissertation, 1970. Bibliothèque de sciences criminelles 13. Paris: Librairie générale de droit et de jurisprudence, 1971.
* ''L’affectation des biens en droit privé français''. Dissertation, 1974 (as ''Essai d'une théorie générale de l'affectation des biens en droit privé français''). Bibliothèque de droit privé 145. Paris: Librairie générale de droit et de jurisprudence 1976.
Books
Guinchard is co-author, lead author, author or editor of the following books, which have been published in several updated editions and in some cases translated into other languages.
* ''Procédure civile''. Précis. Paris: Dalloz. Published biennially in alternation with Hypercours. 30th ed. 2010. . 25th ed. translated into Chinese, . (with Jean Vincent, beginning with 20th ed., 1981)
* ''Procédure civile''. Hypercours Dalloz. Published biennially in alternation with Précis. Paris: Dalloz 2009, 2nd ed. 2011. (with Cecile Chainais and Frédérique Ferrand)
* ''Institutions judiciaires: organisation, juridictions, gens de justice''. Précis Dalloz. Paris: Dalloz. From 9th ed. retitled ''Institutions juridictionnelles''. 11th ed. 2011. . 5th ed. translated into Chinese. (with Jean Vincent and others)
* ''Droit et pratique de la procédure civile: droits interne et de l'Union européenne''. Dalloz action. Paris: Dalloz. 7th ed. 2012. (editor)
* ''Droit et pratique des voies d'exécution''. Dalloz action. Paris: Dalloz. 7th ed. 2012. (editor with Tony Moussa)
* ''Procédure pénale''. Manuel. Paris: Litec / LexisNexis. Published annually. 8th ed. 2012. (with Jacques Buisson).
* ''Droit processuel: Droits fondamentaux du procès''. Précis. Paris: Dalloz. 7th ed. 2013. (with Cécile Chainais and others)
* ''Lexique des termes juridiques''. Paris: Dalloz. Published annually. 20th ed. 2012. . Translated into Spanish, Japanese and Portuguese. (with Thierry Debard and others).
* ''Comment devenir avocat''. Carrières judiciaires. Paris: Lextenso / Gazette du Palais. Published annually. 10th ed. 2013.
* ''Préparation au grand oral de l'examen d'entrée dans un Centre de formation d'avocats''. Carrières judiciaires. Paris: Lextenso / Gazette du Palais. Published annually. 8th ed. 2013.
Footnotes
Notes
References
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guinchard, Serge
French jurists
1946 births
Living people
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur