National federation of the unions of young lawyers

History

The FNUJA was created in the month of April 1947 per Henri DELMONT and gathered initially approximately ten Unions of Young Lawyers who had taken again life or were created between the month of November 1946 and the month of April 1947. The circumstances which governed the creation of the FNUJA by Henri DELMONT were all particular.

It assumed indeed president's functions of UJA of PARIS, when in October 1946 it was invited by the UJA of TOULOUSE which was to give one evening to the profit of lawyers of CAEN, which practically very had lost at the time of the unloading of combined in FRANCE. Thus it went in this area where, contrary to any waiting, it was accepted in a snowstorm. Were with this meeting, in particular, the young lawyers of the Bar of CAEN, like those of TOULOUSE and the bonds of friendship which were woven on this occasion were at the origin of the intention expressed by our young lawyers of the time to maintain a bond permanent between the UJA of all FRANCE, being constituted or reconstituting themselves after the war. It is under these conditions that Henri DELMONT contacted young lawyers of the various Bars in their suggesting creating within each one of them a UJA or, where it existed already, of the " revigorer". This combat was not easy, because at the time, certain Barristers presidents were hostile with the creation of the UJA… Thus at the request of Henri DELMONT, the Presidents and the Offices of the UJA met in PARIS in the month of April 1947 and that this day there, was made up the Federation called then NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF the UJA OF FRANCE. The bonds of friendship were more strongly tied still after a new meeting which was held in STRASBOURG.

The large combat of the UJA started consequently! It is not useless to recall that the first Congress organized by the National committee was held in April 1948 in TUNIS, at the request of the Bar of this city, in order to give a fraternal support to him. The bonds of friendship were consolidated more still, and remained until now within the FNUJA. It is the Congress of NICE which reinforced more still the bonds and the effectiveness of the UJA and decreed in Henri DELMONT the title of Founder president. The combat since then carried out varied but the FNUJA worked always for young lawyers, the evolution of the profession and saw many its combat crowned as well in the Bars as by the public authorities, this testifying to the competence and the relevance of the positions taken. These engagements today enrich the Federation and must continue, the force of the FNUJA holding as well in the experiment of the past as in the renewal of its youth. The UJA are joined together in FNUJA, which knows an original operating process, resting on a certain number of strong ideas.

An age limit

This limit, fixed historically at 40 years, makes it possible to avoid the " mandarinat" and a fast rotation of the stations involves. This system, that does not know any other professional organization, causes to lead to a constant renewal of the executives and militants of the FNUJA and to thus avoid a " essoufflement" in the trade-union combat.

A federative system

The FNUJA indeed gathers the unions of young lawyers, which are currently established in nearly 130 Bars in FRANCE (for the small Bars in which there would be no UJA made up, a system of individual adhesion exists). The UJA are thus a true driving belt between the Federation and the members of the various Bars.

Election and decision making

The doctrines of the Federation are elaborate at the time of its annual convention which gathers all the UJA of FRANCE; the votes intervene there by mandate, being specified that a system of weighting of the mandates makes it possible to avoid a too large electoral weight of the " grandes" UJA.

At the time of this congress, the President and the first vice-president of the FNUJA are also elected by mandate; ten national delegates, members of right of the National committee, are elected by the entirety of the members taking part in the congress. Every month, a National committee meets, either in Paris, or in Province. During this National committee, a certain number of decisions are voted by the Presidents of UJA, the National delegates and the Delegates of the UJA taking part in the National committee. The National committee then elects the Office to intervene on all the current problems and to make apply the doctrines of the Federation and the orientations voted by the National committee.

Transparency

The Office of the FNUJA monthly returns account to the National committee of its activity and cannot make any decision which would be contrary with the votes of the National committee or the Congress.

Term of the offices

The eight members of the Office are elected for one year, either by the Congress (President and first Vice-president), or by the National committee (Vice-presidents Paris and Province, General secretary, Trésorier, Assistant general secretaries).

This total renewal of the leading authorities every year empèche any sclerosis of the organization, each one having vocation to enter to the Office or becoming National delegate. During ten last years, more than 50 fellow-members followed one another the Office of the Federation and more than one thousand of lawyers took part at least a National committee of the FNUJA.

Alternation Paris-Province

This statutory alternation, as well with the Presidency and the first vice-presidency of the FNUJA as at the other stations of the Office (two stations Paris, two Province post offices, two stations without assignment) had been decided historically to allow the Federation to have within its Office a harmonious representation of 46.000 French lawyers and to take account of specificities, as well geographical as numerical.

Apolitical attitude

Any political discussion is prohibited within the Federation and the latter always refused to take party in some way that it is within the framework of the political debates. Each member has his own opinions, with the proviso of not engaging the Federation. This deliberate choice of total neutrality on the political field always made it possible the FNUJA to have a great credibility with respect to the successive governments, the Public authorities knowing that the standpoint of the trade union was sullied by no party taken, nor by any compromising. So some of these initiatives led the federation and its members to be faced, sometimes vigorously, as well the Public authorities as the Members of Parliament, that always was only on the trade-union ground and never on the political field.

See too

Lawyer
Bar

External bonds

official Internet site of the FNUJA
official Internet site of the UJA of Paris
official Internet site of the UJA of Lille

Random links: