Get to know the members of the Association Henri Capitant – Meeting with Jean-Marc Lavergne
Meeting with Jean- Marc Lavergne
Member of the Association Henri Capitant Cambodia
- Can you quickly introduce yourself? (academic and professional career, nationality, profession, areas of expertise)
I’m French and regarding my academic background I have to say that I greatly hesitated about my choice of career guidance! Indeed, when I was in high school I dreamed to become engineer to build bridges…then I choose the law studies and after I passing the bar examination and and received a post graduate degree in notarial law, I have been graduated in 1984 from the National School for Judges and Prosecutors (ENM).
Despite having a civil legal background, my career as a judge led me to practise as a criminal judge. I have been almost ten years « judge for the enforcement of sentences » and one of the mission I done was to create alternative measures to imprisonment
I also chaired for many years correctional hearings and assizes sessions in various departments of the Courts of Appeal of Rennes and Angers.
At the same time I have always been interested in international law and international justice, more specifically in the field of European law, humans right of law and international criminal justice.
Nowadays, I’m an international judge in Trial Chamber of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and one of the main activity I do is to create ties between different cultures and law systems, between a past that expired 40 years ago and the Cambodia of today. It’s an another way to build bridge… for moving forward.
- What are the areas of law in Cambodia that requires to be reformed or developed ?
For my part, adoptions of administrative (law) rules and administrative litigation must be a priority. Indeed the lack of administrative jurisdiction in Cambodia seems to cause serious problems, especially when administrative practice disprove provisions which are part of Cambodian law, or even when certain decisions reveal abuses wich can not be punished due to the lack of legal recourse.
We could also imagine the establishment of an Asia Court of Human Rights like the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights or the The African Court on Human and Peoples ‘ Rights.
I believe that the regionalisation of law can be a significant factor of modernisation and development and this deserves to be more regarded in organisations like the Association of the South-East Asian Nations ( ASEAN) particularly for promoting and raising commons standards of justice.
- Why did you join the Henri Capitant Association?
I am ordinary member of the Association, but I bring all my support to the Association because it offers both Cambodian and internationals legal experts working in Cambodia or who are interested in Cambodia, a place where exchange on the state and future of Cambodian law and sharing knowledge.
Cambodian law, despite the vicissitudes of its history, maintains essential links with the French “matrix”, from which it draws an essential part of its roots, but for its reconstruction and development other sources of inspiration are offered to it.
Cambodia must try to take advantage of this diversity while ensuring that the applicable law in its various branches is coherent and in accordance with international standards, in particular in all aspects of human rights.
- Can you give us one word that best described you?
I try to be an “artisan”, which means the person who intends to take part in the realization of something. Artisan must be able to be patience and determinated and my ambitious is to be an artisan who contributes to do justice, especially here and now be seeking to understand the causes and the perpetrators of the events that occurred during the period of Democratic Kampuchea.
I hope that this work of justice will be useful, that it will be sources of lessons for the future of this country, to those who have suffered and to prevent as far as possible a repetition of history.
- Why did you choose to come and work in Phnom Penh?
When I was young I had the opportunity to meet Cambodian students who knew my father and this was my first contact with Cambodia.
I had been both fascinated by the evocation of the Khmer culture, the grace of the apsaras dancers, the splendor of the Angkorian temples, but at the same time I was disturbed by the tears that had affected the country and in particular I remember difficult times experienced by the students who became refugees in France and especially their anguish during the evacuation of Phnom-Penh concerning the fate of their families left behind.
Many years later, the French Ministry of Justice published on its intranet site a call to candidacy (for application) for judicial positions with the UN-backed Joint Tribunal and I decided to try this exceptional experience that I don’t regret.
- What do you like to do after working hours and when you go outside of Phnom Penh?
I really like seeing the work of Cambodian artists. I think that the greatest wealth of Cambodia comes from its youth and it is very interesting to see among the younger generation of people capable and eager to both live Cambodian artistic traditions like Dance, shadow theater, music, sculpture, but also to find new forms of contemporary expression especially in the field of painting, cinema or the circus.
I really like seeing the work of Cambodian artists I think that the greatest wealth of Cambodia comes from its youth and it is very interesting to see among the younger generation of people capable and willing to both promote Cambodian artistic traditions like Dance, shadow theatre, music, sculpture, but also to find new forms of contemporary expression especially in the field of painting, cinema or the circus.
I’m particularly impressed that young people who often have particularly difficult paths can succeed thanks to associations such as Phare Ponleu Selpak
- Can you tell us one thing that nobody knows?
Having a “secret garden” is important, keeping his “secret garden” is essential !
This is not quite a joke and to use a trendy formula, what struck me most is the way that some people can give private details of their privacy on the “ social network.”
But personally, I can tell you that my secret garden is filled with passions for reading, traveling and the graphic arts, especially for the art of paper cut called “canivet” that I practice for many years.
In short, I’m a judge who, once his task has been accomplished, likes to “escape”, whether through literature, the practice of an artistic hobby, or the discovery of other places, and other people … but this escape has for its only reason to reach an inner harmony by a balanced life and open to the world.