Book Chapter
Protagoras's Wager: Citizen Participation in the High Council of Justice
Original title (French): Le pari de Protagoras : la participation citoyenne au Conseil Supérieur de la Justice
Written in French — title, summary and keywords translated
Keywords
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Abstract
Benoit Frydman argues that citizen participation in Belgium's High Council of Justice finds its philosophical foundation in the democratic principle set out by Protagoras, according to which justice, as a collective virtue essential to the survival of the state, must be distributed equally among all citizens rather than reserved to specialists. He examines the several categories of Council members—magistrates, lawyers (as professionals), academics (as independent experts), and lay citizens—arguing that non-magistrate citizen representatives should be selected for their capacity to convey the voice and lived experience of civil society rather than for technical legal expertise. The institutional design and nomination procedures must secure both democratic legitimacy and practical effectiveness of governance, so as to rebuild public confidence through meaningful civic dialogue on judicial matters.
Read the summary in the original language (French)
Benoît Frydman argues that citizen participation in Belgium's Superior Council of Justice finds philosophical foundation in Protagoras's democratic principle that justice, as a collective virtue essential to the state's survival, must be distributed equally among all citizens rather than reserved to specialists. He examines three categories of Council members—magistrates, lawyers (as professionals), academics (as independent experts), and lay citizens—arguing that non-magistrate citizen representatives should be selected for their capacity to mediate civil society voice and lived experience rather than for technical legal expertise. The institutional design and nomination procedures must secure both democratic legitimacy and practical governance effectiveness to rebuild public confidence through meaningful civic dialogue on judicial matters.
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Cite this work
« La participation citoyenne au Conseil Supérieur de la Justice : le pari de Protagoras », in Le Conseil Supérieur de la Justice, Bruxelles, Bruylant, 1999, pp. 93-99.
@incollection{frydman_nd_pari_protagoras_participation_citoyenne,
author = {Frydman, Benoit},
title = {Le pari de Protagoras : la participation citoyenne au Conseil Supérieur de la Justice},
booktitle = {Le Conseil Supérieur de la Justice},
publisher = {Bruylant},
year = {1999},
pages = {93--99}
}
TY - CHAP AU - Frydman, Benoit TI - Le pari de Protagoras : la participation citoyenne au Conseil Supérieur de la Justice BT - Le Conseil Supérieur de la Justice PB - Bruylant PY - 1999 SP - 93 EP - 99 ER -
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