Family Justice, Marriage, and Migration: what are they supposed to judge?

Justice familiale et "mariages migratoires". Observations dans deux tribunaux français

Anne Wyvekens (1)

1 ISP - Institut des Sciences sociales du Politique

In a context of tighter migration policies, binational marriages are becoming increasingly suspect. Family justice is a particular place of encounter between the State and couples with a migratory component. It appears in this respect as an original field of analysis. The article is about the practices of some prosecutors and family court judges dealing with divorce and marriage annulment cases. The discourse on fraud, and the restrictive definition of the “good” marriage that goes with it, face both institutional constraints and a judicial regulation based on a contractual conception of the family. Family justice remains to some extent at a distance from migration policies’ suspicious discourses.

Justice familiale et « mariages migratoires » Observations dans deux tribunaux français Résumé Dans un contexte de resserrement des politiques migratoires, les mariages binationaux font l'objet d'une suspicion grandissante. La justice familiale, lieu particulier de rencontre entre l'État et les couples à composante migratoire, représente à cet égard un terrain d'analyse original. L'article s'interroge sur les pratiques de magistrates traitant d'affaires de divorce et d'annulation de mariage. Au parquet comme au siège, le discours sur la fraude, et la définition restrictive du « bon » mariage qui l'accompagne, se confrontent à la fois à des contraintes institutionnelles et à une régulation judiciaire axée sur une conception contractuelle de la famille, faisant la part belle à l'autonomie de la volonté. La justice familiale se tient à une relative distance des discours suspicieux des politiques migratoires. Mots-clés : justice familialemariages dits de complaisancedroit des étrangers Family Justice, Marriage, and Migration: what are they supposed to judge? In a context of tighter migration policies, binational marriages are becoming increasingly suspect. Family justice is a particular place of encounter between the State and couples with a migratory component. It appears in this respect as an original field of analysis. The article is about the practices of some prosecutors and family court judges dealing with divorce and marriage annulment cases. The discourse on fraud, and the restrictive definition of the "good" marriage that goes with it, face both institutional constraints and a judicial regulation based on a contractual conception of the family. Family justice remains to some extent at a distance from migration policies' suspicious discourses.

Mots clés: Family justice – sham marriages – immigration law

Mots clés: justice familiale – mariages dits de complaisance – droit des étrangers

Domaines: Sociologie; Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Anne Wyvekens. Justice familiale et "mariages migratoires". Observations dans deux tribunaux français. 2021. ⟨halshs-03274570⟩