Rule of Law and Digital Citizenship

The project explicitly focuses on the quality of justice as a concept that encompasses the rule of law and other important dimensions of a just society and a good democracy. It calls for a shift in the focus of both scientific research and policy discourse. Rather than focusing exclusively and predominantly on the formal design of the legal and judicial institutions, the novelty of the project consists of casting light on the “law and justice phenomenon” first and foremost from a multi-dimensional point of view, which covers both the demand and the offer of the “law” and of “justice”. The relationship between law-driven conflict management mechanisms and the ideal of justice emerges as a complex and compound one. It is not simply a matter of extra judicial or alternative dispute settlement mechanisms, it is also a matter of what the law is expected to contribute to a society, from the point of view of its members, the citizens. It will consider the European member States, as first sample, in the quantitative analysis. Then it will focus on two national cases, selected on the basis of the similarities that the formal design of their ordinary courts system feature, notably Italy and France. As a third and very important step, it will consider the level of social groups and communities within four urban contexts (Paris, Milan, Marseille, Catania), with the in-depth study of their “law and justice” expectations and notions.