François Gény (1861–1959) was a French jurist and professor of law at the

University of Nancy A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, who introduced the notion of " free scientific research" to the interpretation of

positive law Positive laws () are human-made laws that oblige or specify an action. Positive law also describes the establishment of specific rights for an individual or group. Etymologically, the name derives from the verb ''to posit''. The concept of posit ...

. His advocacy of

judicial discretion Judicial discretion is the power of the judiciary to make some legal decisions according to their discretion. Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the ability of judges to exercise discretion is an aspect of judicial independence. Where ...

in the interpretation of

statutory law A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wi ...

had an important influence across Europe. Gény also emphasized that judges should take into account social and economic factors when deciding cases.

Biography

François Gény was the fourth child of a numerous family of 12 children. His father, Alfred Gény, was a forest warden in Baccarat (North-East of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

). His mother, Marie-Eugénie Huin, was the daughter of a

scrivener A scrivener (or scribe) was a person who, before the advent of compulsory education, could literacy, read and write or who wrote letters as well as court and legal documents. Scriveners were people who made their living by writing or copying w ...

. Two of his brothers became priests, and another one became a teacher in the University of Roma. François Gény studied law in Nancy (North-East of France) from 1878 to 1887. He got his diploma and became college professor, he taught Roman law in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

(1888–1889). He also taught civil law and

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

in the University of Dijon (1890–1900), where he met another famous law teacher, . He then taught civil law in Nancy from 1901 to 1931 and became dean of the faculty (1919–1925). He reintroduced classes of natural law named « Philosophical introduction to law study. » In 1930, he became a member of the French Institute and received the ''

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

'' (French highest decoration) in 1934. Nine universities conferred him the title of Doctorate Honoris Causa:

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

(1914),

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

(1927),

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

(1929),

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

(1929),

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

(1930), Jassy (1934),

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

(1935),

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

(1936) and

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

(1937). In 1933, he was elected foreign member of the Boston American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Legal opinions

At the end of the 19th century, the

Civil code A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property law, property, family law, family, and law of obligations, obligations. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdiction ...

of 1804 was still the major reference in French law. The Civil Code was inspired by the French Revolution principles, where, according to Gény, judges were considered as the « mouth of the law » and obliged to apply it without any interpretations - according to Gény's own interpretation of Montesquieu, a view that has been discredited more recently in legal literature. However, François Gény decided to use an independent method based on the will of the law-maker. In his work ''Method of interpretation and sources of positive private law : a critical essay'', published in 1899, François Gény declared that law has different implications. He noted that customs, tradition and scientific studies should be used to identify different interpretations of what is written in the law. In ''Science and technic in positive private law'', published from 1914 to 1924, François Gény described a new method of interpretation called ''free scientific research'' with the goal to discover the origins of principles and rules. With this ''free scientific research'', he based his studies on various "sciences" such as

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, philosophy and theology, that previous law teachers had not used before.

Political involvement

In 1936, François Gény was part of a local political group called the ''Lorraine national gathering''. This group campaigned against the French socialist government elected in 1936.

Selected works

* ''Essai critique sur la méthode d’interprétation juridique en vue d’une orientation nouvelle des études de droit privé'' ("Critical essay to juridical method of interpretation for a new orientation of private law studies") * ''Université de Dijon, Revue bourguignonne de l’enseignement supérieur'', t. VII de 1897 et t. VIII of 1898 * ''Méthode d‘interprétation et sources en droit privé positif: essai critique'' ("Method of interpretation and sources in positive law - critical essay"), 1899, Preface of Raymond Saleilles. * ''"La technique législative dans la codification civile moderne dans le code civil."'' ''Book of the centenary'', 1904, p. 989-1038. * ''Les procédés d’élaboration du droit civil dans les méthodes juridiques'', 1910, p. 173-196. * ''Des droits sur les lettres missives principalement en vue du système positif français; essai d’application d’une méthode critique d’interprétation'', 1911, 2 vol. * ''Méthode d’interprétation et sources en droit privé positif'', 2nd edition, 1919, 2 vol. * ''Science et technique en droit privé positif: nouvelle contribution à la critique de la méthode juridique'', 4 volumes published from 1914 to 1924. * ''"La notion de droit en France"'' ("The notion of rights in France"), in Archives of philosophical law sociology, 1931. * ''"La laïcité du droit naturel"'', in Archives of philosophical law sociology, 1933. * ''"Justice et force: pour l’intégration de la force dans le droit"'', in studies in memory of H. Capitant, 1938, p. 241-257. * ''"Evolution contemporaine de la pensée juridique dans la doctrine française"'', in studies offered to G.Ripert, 1950, t.I, p. 3-8. * ''Ultima verba'', 1951.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Geny, Francois 1861 births 1959 deaths People from Baccarat, Meurthe-et-Moselle 19th-century French jurists 20th-century French jurists Academic staff of Nancy-Université Commanders of the Legion of Honour