Abstract
« Thanks to an unprecented consultation of private (family) archives, it is possible to acquire a deeper knowledge of Joseph Charmont (1859-1922), the first president of the Montpellier Section of the Ligue des droits de l’homme : professor of civil law in Montpellier, philosopher of law, Charmont was a “Dreyfusard” Catholic, firmly republican, and a convinced democrat. He subscribed to the juridical individualism coming from the French Revolution, yet admired Emile Zola, and was disturbed by the disatrous consequences of “laissez-faire”, principally the destitution of the working class. As Pope Leo XIII proposed a proper balance between liberalism and social justice in order to find the solutions to social issues, Charmont followed suit in accompanying and promoting what he called the movement of the “socialization of law”. In keeping with his own personal social undertakings, Charmont supported state interventionism, the beginnings of the welfare state, and was favorable to the evolution of socializing case law. His search for a “third way” between liberalism and socialism earns him a place among “social Catholic” jurists. He constructs, out of practical cases, his reflection on a philosophy of natural law modified by a certain form of Kantism. Almost forgotten in France, the reflections of Charmont, beyond the light they shed on the “1900 moment”, are interesting for the elements they furnish to a study of the history of natural law. »