Abstract EN:

This thesis is concerned with the issue of duty in family Law. There is a striking contrast between the importance given to duty by individuals on the one hand and legal scholars and practitioners on the other. This study seeks to illustrate the extent to which law-makers as well as judges in family Law courts are influenced by the concept of duty. The thesis examines a number of central ethical issues in order to understand how the concept and interpretation of legal duty operate within the constantly-changing area of family Law. It seeks to achieve this by considering key theories derived from ethical philosophy. It is important, however, to be aware of, and to avoid a number of common traps. One such trap is temptation to adopt the standard “Christian” point of view which, many jurists are quick to say, permeates French family and privates laws. Another common trap is to side with any school of thoughts which may, at one point or another, have dominated all legal or legislative arguments on family Laws issues. Rather, therefore, this study simply attempts to offer a strictly legal analysis of the concept of duty in family Law as it relates to the beliefs and key values of one society at one particular point in time. The analysis carried out by this paper can be justified on three grounds. First, it is necessary to show that it is not possible to understand the transformation of the family as a legal entity without a clear understanding of the concept of duty. Indeed, the two are intricately connected. The second justification is connected to the first one. Namely that it is necessary to show that ethical developments have shaped the evolution of the concept of duty in Law and that they are therefore keys to understand how the family as an entity has evolved. Finally, it is necessary to show through a wider analysis that the tendency to liken the transformation of the family as a legal entity with the decline of ethics is far from obvious.