EUROPA/ITALY - First international conference “Relationships in Law: is there a place for fraternity?” promoted by Communion and Law Association of the Focolari starts today with more than 600 participants from 35 countries

Castelgandolfo (Fides Service) - From 18-20 November at Maropoli Centre in Castelgandolfo there will be the 1st international conference “Relationships in Law: is there a place for fraternity?” promoted by the “Communion and Law” Association of the Focolare.
The rising phenomena of conflictual situations and violation of rights cry out the need to search for new “ways” of interrelating and their subsequent translation into the practice of law - Public, Private and Penal Law - so as to effectively safeguard persons and their inviolable rights, and conjunctively, also the inter-communion of persons, social groups and nations.
This explains the choice of the title, “Relationships in Law: does brotherhood have a place?” The three-day conference will investigate a juridical translation of the principle of fraternity, often ignored, is a field of research which the Conference intends to open up on an international scale. Behind this option lies the Conference promoters’ well-founded observation that “the principles of liberty and equality,” translated into juridical practice, have reinforced the rights of individuals but have proven to be insufficient to assure the peaceful coexistence of local, national and international communities. In fact, the lack of fraternity, the third neglected element of the well-known trinomial, is universally felt.
Reflections and experiences will focus on a new way of understanding and applying law and justice, for instance, the experience of a pilot district of Gela, Sicily regarding the relationships between the citizens and public administration; methods of mediation in family controversies; dealing with penalized drug addicts in the United States and in an Austrian rehabilitation community
“Communion and Law” Association, promoter of this first international conference, is an international group composed of scholars and Law professionals, who are committed to upholding the principle of fraternity in the relationships created within the different areas of juridical practice. Both in its activities and in its theoretical reflections, it openly references the spirituality of communion of the Focolare Movement, founded by Chiara Lubich, its president. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 18/11/2005, righe 28 parole 361)