In March 2024 (24-26), Professor Detey was invited to spend three days in Le Mans (France) with the Executive members of a large Justice Conciliators’ Association, the Association de Conciliateurs de Justice de la Cour d’appel d’Angers (French Ministry of Justice), currently Presided by Jean-Claude Lacheny, and deliver a keynote speech at their Annual Assembly, with around 100 participants, including justice conciliators, legal mediators, judges and school directors. Professor Detey’s keynote speech title was “La parole: une arme de premier choix pour restaurer le respect et le civisme, à condition de savoir tout à la fois la soigner et s’en detacher” (Speech: a first-choice weapon to restore respect and civil behavior, provided that it is used with both care and detachment). All participants responded very enthusiastically to Professor Detey’s lecture, establishing a link between their issues and activities (i.e. helping conflicting citizens reach amicable agreements through mediated and direct communication instead of drastic legal actions) and the issues and topics covered in Professor Detey’s book “Savons-nous vraiment parler? Du contrat linguistique comme contrat social”’ (‘Do we really know how to speak? The linguistic contract as a social contract’, 2023, Paris: Armand Colin). During his visit, Professor Detey was invited to a local Radio program (RCF – “Sans Détour”, with Gilles Leproust), as well as the Live Daily News program of a regional TV Channel (LMtv Sarthe, with Laure Girard) to talk about his research, his book and his participation at the Justice Conciliators’ Assembly.
