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Le corps des morts dans la vie du droit

Mariève Lacroix and Alicia Mâzouz

Controverses sur la dignité du cadavre en droit français

Marc Dupré
A concept that began as philosophical and became legal, the dignity of the human person appears to be a fundamental element of the French legal system. This raises the question of its possible applicability to corpses, which are objects rather than persons. This issue reveals a legal treatment that is partly unsatisfactory in France. A return to more technical legal concepts could enable an approach that better appreciates the contours of dignified treatment of corpses and, more broadly, restores the intrinsic dignity of the person to a more prominent place.

La dignité du cadavre et de ses restes en droit français : de la fragilité sémantique d’un concept juridique à son utilisation politique

Jordy Bony and Damien Charabidze
The notion of human dignity as it applies to the living lacks a precise legal definition. As a result, the concept is not always easy to delineate, and some legal scholars have gone so far as to describe it as an axiom, that is, a proposition that is self-evident and binding by principle alone. This conceptual vagueness has made the notion susceptible to instrumentalization, allowing it to extend beyond its original scope. The same is true of the dignity of the corpse, which is also occasionally invoked in legal discourse.This is illustrated by Article 16-1-1 of the French Civil Code, which, since 21 December 2008, has extended the notion of human dignity to the human body deprived of life, namely the corpse. Prior to 2008, families enjoyed broad freedom regarding the destination of their deceased relatives’ ashes. This situation, however, gave rise to numerous disputes concerning the allocation and ownership of these memorial remains. By relying on the concept of human dignity, the legislature was able to reduce litigation surrounding ashes by restricting families’ freedom as to their destination, thereby easing the burden on the judiciary.This political emphasis on identified or presumed risks of a loss of dignity also highlights a discrepancy in the assessment of existing practices. It implicitly assumes that current methods of preparing dead bodies and contemporary funerary techniques do not, in themselves, transgress the limits of human dignity. This assumption is open to question.This article seeks to develop this analysis more fully by demonstrating how the poorly defined notion of the dignity of the corpse may be diverted from its legal context to serve political responses. In doing so, the present study also aims to outline the initial contours of a definition of post-mortem bodily dignity as a concept autonomous from the dignity of the living.

Sida, mort et droit : du corps discriminé au corps militant

Jacques Ernst
The French authorities have long discriminated against the bodies of deceased HIV-positive individuals, prohibiting until 2018 the use of preservation treatments, or thanatopraxy, on deceased HIV-positive individuals, even though such restriction was entirely avoidable, as demonstrated by Canadian regulations on the matter, as it contributed to the ostracization of those affected. In response to this ostracism, AIDS activists have instrumentalized the bodies of deceased HIV-positive individuals in several ways as well as, more broadly, the issue of mourning, in a dynamic of political and normative demands, thus revealing the militant potential of the corpse.

Le traitement des corps non réclamés : entre liminalité et éthique de la reconnaissance post mortem

Isabelle Perreault and Dahlia Namian
This text explores the condition of unclaimed bodies as indicative of the shifting borders between recognition, abandonment, and collective responsibility. Based on interviews with coroners, police officers, and funeral professionals, it analyzes the non-claim of bodies as a form of social liminality, marked by the erosion of belonging, precariousness, and isolation. In a context where the state is disengaging from caring for the living while providing minimal care for the dead, this investigation highlights the tension between administrative conformity and the ethics of recognition. Using the example of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal’s (SPVM) équipe dédiée aux disparitions, aux recherches de famille et aux enlèvements parentaux (EDRE) and the minimal rituals accorded to anonymous deceased people; the article questions the political and symbolic significance of funeral gestures in an individualized and secularized society. It proposes that rites be conceived not as mere formalities, but as acts of symbolic justice that restore, even briefly, a form of community with the dead.

La numérisation du corps ou l’immortalité artificielle de la personne juridique. Regard en droit français

Zoé Felici
The emerging trend of funeral services utilizing artificial intelligence to enable loved ones to interact with an artificial reproduction of the deceased raises questions about the state of legal personification techniques in French law. Providing the opportunity to revisit the question of the link between the abstract operation of law and the reality it seeks to grasp, the example of the digital avatar défis lawyers accustomed to the idea that legal persons are solely a useful fiction for the purposes of law. After witnessing the excesses of moral personification (Freyria, 1991), should we expect to see the individual person slip beyond human life ? In light of French legal techniques, this contribution aims to pursue the hypothesis regarding this extreme case (Thomas, 2005) of what constitutes a digital avatar, questioning, to this end, the legal credibility of conferring artificial immortality upon the legal person.

Le corps des morts dans le conflit : une vie du droit en mutation pour une plus grande protection

Audrey Pietrzak-Gratadour
This article explores how international law engages with human remains in armed conflict, showing that the legal protection of corpses is central to affirming dignity after death. While international humanitarian law provides basic obligations regarding the respectful treatment of corpses, it often proves structurally fragile in practice. International criminal law builds upon this framework by treating corpses either as direct victims of post-mortem violations or as evidentiary tools for establishing intent in grave crimes. Finally, international human rights law increasingly recognizes the suffering of surviving relatives and their rights, thereby shaping a form of posthumous legal subjectivity. Across these regimes, the corpse becomes more than a lifeless body: it is a bearer of memory, identity, and legal significance.

Le statut et la protection juridiques du zombi dans le droit haïtien

Patrick André
In Western popular culture, the polysemous concept of the “zombie” is generally associated with trivial representations, which do not lend themselves to legal analysis. In contrast, within Haitian culture, zombification constitutes a legally cognizable reality that has been addressed by the Criminal Code since 1864. Civil law, however, remains silent on this phenomenon. This study examines the criminal provisions governing zombification in Haïti and the legal status and protection of the so-called “resurrected person” − the zombi − a category currently unrecognized in the law of persons.

Les directives de Ben Sira au sujet des rites autour de la mort : étude de Sir 38,16-17

Jean-Jacques Lavoie
In the Bible, Sirach 38:16-17 is the only wisdom text that offers guidance on mourning and funeral rites. This article has two main objectives: 1) to compare the Hebrew version of the Sirach text with the Greek translation by his grandson, to highlight their significant differences; 2) to compare these verses (16-17) with other biblical and ancient texts, to better understand the unique nature of the recommendations given by both Sirach and his grandson. This comparative analysis will provide a deeper understanding of Ben Sira’s view on death, as well as the relativity of cultural and religious norms regarding funeral rites and mourning practices.

Le don d’organes en contexte d’aide médicale à mourir : une analyse critique des discours dans la presse écrite québécoise francophone (2016-2024)

Alexandra Guité-Verret, Deborah Ummel, Mélanie Vachon and Émilie Lessard
Organ donation in the context of medical assistance in dying is a new phenomenon, which has been increasing since the legislative framework for end-of-life care was implemented in Québec. In this article, we propose a qualitative analysis of media discourses on the subject, focusing on French-language Québec newspapers. A total of 152 articles were selected, published between January 2016 and December 2024. Our analysis reveals five themes, which we describe in order to better understand the representation of this new phenomenon: 1) promoting organ donation through medical aid in dying; 2) attempting to isolate two related phenomena; 3) transmitting and saving life; 4) transforming death into life; 5) combating obstacles to donation. Our interpretation of these themes sheds light on attitudes, values, and metaphors underlying dominant discourses and proposes to the public specific perspectives on the body and dying.

Étude exploratoire sur l’expérience de partenaires qui ont accompagné l’être aimé en contexte d’aide médicale à mourir au Québec

Isabelle Dumont
This exploratory study investigates the experience of partners in couples where one member passed away following medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in Quebec. A qualitative secondary data analysis from the discourse of ten partners who had accompanied their loved one in this context was carried out. This analysis enabled us to learn more about participants' perceptions of MAiD and the factors influencing their experience. Key themes include the nature of the relationship, communication, predictability and preparation for death, support from professionals and family and life without the deceased. The findings reveal that MAiD often allows for advanced preparation for death, enabling better management of goodbyes and reducing emotional strain, which contributes to a more peaceful grieving experience. The study also emphasizes the need for tailored support for bereaved partners to help them navigate this difficult period. In conclusion, MAiD can play a significant role in the grieving process by allowing partners to mentally and emotionally prepare for the loss, while respecting the end-of-life choices of their loved ones.

Autonomie en fin de vie et droit à mourir : entre éthique de la liberté et impératifs systémiques

Guillaume Soubeyrand-Faghel
Drawing on a critical autonomist framework, this article argues that medical assistance in dying cannot be adequately understood through an exclusively individualistic conception of autonomy. It contends that end-of-life decision-making is deeply shaped by systemic constraints, including legal regimes, structural inequalities in access to care, and economic rationalities governing health systems. Organized around three core dimensions − the complexity of consent, the political economy of death, and the reconfiguration of care − the article examines the conditions under which autonomy at the end of life may be meaningfully preserved as both free and dignified.