Le temps et le droit

Law cannot ignore the passing of time. The problem is to decide what role time should play. Three major hypotheses have been put forward: the past must be taken into account. This is the domain of ways and customs, i.e. the traditional habits of a human group. Under certain conditions, these customary ways of doing things can be considered as laws. This does not mean that the law has usurped the possibility of judging these customs from an anthropological point of view. The only objective is to recognize how customs establish rights and obligations. The weight of the present. The most straightforward and the usual field of application of law: establish norms for human relations. All aspects of life are concerned by this temporal dimension. An approach to the future. Evidence that is not yet recognized, but which can be considered in law by anticipation. For instance, delays to be respected, mandates for future protection to be constructed. Conjugating law in these three times is the art of judicial practice.