Joël Andriantsimbazovina

In collaboration with the radio des cinq académies de l’Institut de France (Canal Académie)

The Speaker

Joël Andriantsimbazovina holds a PhD in public law and is certified as a professor of law. He is a university professor, Dean of the School of Law, Political Science and Management in La Rochelle and Vice-President of the University of La Rochelle, responsible for international and European action. He taught previously at the Universities of Besançon and Limoges.
His research and work deal with European and International Protection of Human Rights and Procedure at the European Court of Human Rights. He collaborates with the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, established by René Cassin.

Convinced of the regulatory role of the globalization of human rights, he was the initiator of the first multi-disciplinary dictionary on human rights in French (Dictionnaire des Droits de l’Homme [Dictionary of Human Rights], Presses universitaires de France, Paris) and is the co-author of the first annotated volume on rulings of the European Court of Human Rights in French (Les Grands arrêts de la Cour européenne des Droits de l’Homme [Major Rulings of the European Court of Human Rights], Presses universitaires de France, Paris).

Coming from a blend of two cultures, Joël Andriantsimbazovina is an ardent promoter of the French-speaking world. It was at the Alliance Française in Antsirabe, Madagascar that he perfected his French early on. As such, he created and co-directs the annual review of European Law in French (Annuaire de Droit Européen, Editions Bruylant, Brussels, with Hélène Gaudin, Claude Blumann, Fabrice Picod).

Lectures

Does a Francophone Conception of Human Rights Exist?

Globalization is resulting in an expansion of the economy, of culture and of Anglo-American language. This phenomenon has a bearing on human rights. The expression in French – literally “rights of man” – is criticized because of this evolution. There have been many calls to change the terminology and to use the translation of “human Rights” in English as”droits humains” in French. This linguistic dispute points to an opposition between the Anglo-American and French-speaking worlds on the question of human rights. Is this supposition precise? Are the spirit and letter of human rights as well as the policies pursued the same in all of the French-speaking countries? Is the singularity of the French approach to human rights shared by all of the countries in the French-speaking world?

Are Human Rights Universal?

On anthropological, historical and philosophical bases, the usual affirmation of the universal character of human rights is regularly contested. They are said to be marked by western individualism and might undermine the self-determination of peoples. Moreover, they are said to be counter to certain non-western cultures in which a collective, holistic conception prevails.
The speaker will maintain the universal and necessary nature of human rights, from philosophical, political and legal points of view. Human rights constitute a regulatory instrument against the perverse effects and negative consequences of globalization dominated by the economy.

Abortion, Euthanasia, Death Penalty: Is the Right to Life an Absolute Right?

Numerous international treaties guarantee the right to life, but the guarantees are more or less binding depending on the continent and the country. For various reasons, the right to life is the object of variable limitations.
However, the reconciliations are the source of paradoxes. In certain countries which have abolished the death penalty, requests for limitation of the right to life seem more significant. In certain countries where the death penalty is in force, abortion and euthanasia are strongly contested. This paradoxical example illustrates the complexity of the question. Perhaps the question should be understood differently, taking into account other parameters.

Link to an interview of Joël Andriantsimbazovina on the radio des cinq académies de l’Institut de France (Canal Académie):

http://www.canalacademie.com/Le-Dictionnaire-des-droits-de-l.html

Link to an article of the Dictionnaire des Droits de l’Homme :
http://www.nonfiction.fr

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