The author of a judicial act

The literary author and his work can not be defined in a totally independent way, one from the other. They are defined, on the one hand, by a reciprocal link, and, on the other hand, according to their own characteristics. The link is shown by the attribution of the text to the author - a generic term - directly or through a mechanism of representation. This attributive author identifies - or authentifies - the text, gives it a twofold meaning - because of his own intention and of his personal authority - and he assumes the responsibility. In a symmetrical manner, the text, especially by its quality, participates in the authority of the author and in his identification as such. As time passes, the link between text and author lessens without causing it to disappear entirely, since an irreducible part of the intent of meaning of the text remains determined by the author, as the text considered on its own having no legal significance. The author and the work also have their own characteristics. The judicial act can be described as a singular work, as a singular text. The author's own characteristics - in a broad sense - and those of the text are comparable to those of a litterary text's author. The text is inserted into an existing group of pre-existing normative intents which he must both respect and modify. He must respect the canons in order to insert it. And he must modify it to insert his text into the whole, the value of its own normative intent, which is recognized, modifies the existing law. The author exercises a power, which has two bases : that of his personal qualities and that of the person who has the title of a superior authority, whom the author represents.