ED Droit
From Islamic normativity to positive law. The case of the interdiction of incapacitated persons before Egyptian probate councils (1873–1955).
by Aya BEJERMI (INSTITUT DE RECHERCHE MONTESQUIEU)
The defense will take place at 9h30 - Salle des thèses Pessac Faculté de Droit de Bordeaux - site Pessac Avenue Léon Duguit 33600 Pessac 44°47'56.4"N 0°36'55.7"W
in front of the jury composed of
- Laetitia GUERLAIN - Professeure des universités - Université de Bordeaux - Directeur de these
- Baudouin DUPRET - Directeur de recherche - Centre de Recherche Français à Jérusalem - - CoDirecteur de these
- Nader HAKIM - Professeur des universités - Université de Bordeaux - Examinateur
- Nathalie BERNARD-MAUGIRON - Directrice de recherche - Centre Population & Développement (CEPED) - Rapporteur
- Silvia FALCONIERI - Chargée de recherche - Institut des mondes africains (IMAF) - Rapporteur
- Moussa ABOU RAMADAN - Professeur des universités - Faculté de droit à l'Université de Strasbourg - Examinateur
Under the combined influence of the Khedivial, European and Ottoman powers, the conceptualisation of codified positive law in Egypt gradually moved away from classical Islamic doctrine (fiqh). In Hanafi fiqh, the prohibited person is treated as a minor subject to dual guardianship: over the person (wilāya ʿalā al-nafs) and over property (wilāya ʿalā al-māl). While interdiction was previously the responsibility of the qādī, this authority was transferred in 1873 to the probate councils (majālis ḥisbiyya), which were created in a context of economic crisis. From the beginning of the 19th century, Egypt embarked on a process of state and bureaucratic construction, marked by the ‘positivisation of law'. The first codification efforts and the establishment of new courts throughout the 19th century reflected the affirmation of a legal normativity emanating from the state. This movement intensified in the 1870s with the adoption of codes and the creation of mixed (maḥākim al-mukhtaliṭa) and indigenous (maḥākim al-aḥliyya) courts, permanently establishing Egypt in the civil law tradition, despite the British occupation. The judicial function was also redefined, new legal professions emerged, and a state judicial infrastructure was put in place. However, this ‘positive law,' which was constitutive of the Egyptian state, came into conflict with Islamic norms derived from sharīʿa and fiqh, which were also affected by positivisation. The Sharīʿa courts were reorganised and brought under state control. Judges continued to rule according to Hanafi fiqh, but on the basis of written texts inspired by French codification and within a gradually reduced scope of jurisdiction. This jurisdiction is now limited to a new category, ‘personal status' (al-aḥwāl al-shakhṣiyya), a concept borrowed from Roman law and adapted to the Egyptian context by Muḥammad Qadrī Pasha (1821-1888). This unofficial code deals in particular with interdiction (ḥajr), based on the classical categories of fiqh such as prodigality (safh) or insanity (ʿath), which define legal incapacity (ʿadam al-ahliyya) according to socio-legal criteria distinct from those of modern medicine. At the same time, new concepts from modern medical science, introduced in 1827 with the creation of the medical school by Clot Bey, are entering legal reasoning: ‘weakness of mental faculties', senility or psychiatric illnesses are becoming acceptable causes of incapacity. A study of litigation concerning interdiction, based on decisions published in the first half of the 20th century, mainly in the Egyptian legal journal al-Muhāmā, reveals a lexical and argumentative transformation: the categories of fiqh are retained, but integrated into a positive legal reasoning based in particular on the distinction between form (shakl) and substance (mawḍūʿ), the assessment of facts and the use of medical expertise. Fiqh is therefore not abolished, but reconfigured: its concepts are dissociated from their classical modes of proof and combined with categories derived from modern sciences. Through the study of case law relating to incapacity, this thesis documents the global phenomenon of the positivisation of law in Egypt and the establishment of its contemporary legal system.
ED Sciences et environnements
Genetic and taxonomic diversity of isoetids communities in Aquitaine shallow lakes
by Estelle-Marie DEBAILLEUL (EABX - Écosystèmes aquatiques et changements globaux)
The defense will take place at 8h00 - Nouvel amphithéâtre EABX, INRAE, 50 avenue de Verdun, 33612 Cestas Cedex
in front of the jury composed of
- Aurélien JAMONEAU - Chargé de recherche - INRAE - Directeur de these
- Myriam VALERO - Directrice de recherche - Evolutionary Biology and Ecology of Algae (EBEA - CNRS) - Rapporteur
- Olivier LEPAIS - Directeur de recherche - INRAE - CoDirecteur de these
- Nicolas BECH - Maître de conférences - Université de Poitiers - Equipe Ecologie Evolution Symbiose - Rapporteur
- Guillaume EVANNO - Directeur de recherche - UMR DECOD, Rennes - Examinateur
- Gabrielle THIEBAUT - Professeure - ECOBIO CNRS, Rennes - Examinateur
This thesis examines correlations between genetic and taxonomic diversity (species-genetic diversity correlations, SGDC) within isoetid-dominated macrophyte communities in oligotrophic coastal lakes of Aquitaine. European priority habitat 3110, characterized by isoetids, is experiencing severe population declines of these protected species. The study focused on nine macrophyte species sampled across five lakes. Genetic analyses using microsatellite markers quantified genetic diversity via Hill numbers. SGDC correlations were examined through multiple approaches: variance decomposition, structural equation modeling, and NMDS ordination integrating genetic distance matrices (FST) and environmental variables. The first chapter establishes a genetic baseline for nine co-occurring species (two protected isoetids: Lobelia dortmanna and Littorella uniflora; seven more common species) across five lakes. Using microsatellite markers, the study reveals (1) a positive relationship between species rarity and genetic diversity; (2) remarkably high genetic differentiation (FST = 0.26-0.27), 3-10 times higher than typical aquatic plants, reflecting extreme fragmentation; (3) increasing clonality rates in degraded lakes as a response to environmental stress; and (4) consistent north-south genetic structure, revealing geographic isolation as the primary determinant. Subsequent chapters analyze SGDC correlations through multiple approaches: variance decomposition, structural equation modeling, and NMDS ordination integrating genetic distance matrices (FST) and environmental variables at both alpha and beta diversity levels. Only two species (B. ranunculoides and S. pungens) exhibit significant SGDC correlations, with environmental variables causally accounting for the observed correlations. Three distinct SGDC archetypes are identified; lake heterogeneity generates idiosyncratic local effects without systematic species-specific patterning. These findings demonstrate that genetic and taxonomic diversity do not automatically covary within isoetid communities. Conservation management of these Natura 2000 habitats must consider species-specific genetic dynamics and the critical importance of hydrological connectivity among fragmented lake systems to maintain adaptive potential of populations.