Created in 2007 in France by a joint decision of the "Mission de recherche Droit et Justice" and the "Direction des Affaires criminelles et des Grâces" of the Ministry of Justice, the Vendôme Prize is awarded to a thesis in criminal law, criminal procedure or criminal sciences on a subject of particular interest to the French Ministry of Justice. Since 2014, the Vendôme Prize has been awarded in partnership with the journal Droit Penal (Lexis Nexis).
Camille Aynès defended her thesis on La privation des droits civiques et politiques. L’apport du droit pénal à une théorie de la citoyenneté at the European University Institute in September 2020. The thesis will be published in April 2022 by the French publisher Dalloz.
"I was honoured but also very surprised to learn that the Vendôme Prize awarded me a Special Mention for my thesis", expressed Aynès when initially learning of the prize nomination.
In recognising that her thesis has a very historical and theoretical dimension, and goes beyond criminal law to look at citizenship, Aynès remarks that indeed she "could not expect the Ministry of Justice to be immediately interested," adding that "this is a testament to the attention given to interdisciplinary work today."
The interdisciplinary environment offered at the EUI further provided "an ideal setting" for her interest in this aspect, shares Aynès, who is especially thankful for having had the opportunity to attend "seminars jointly organised by the Departments of Law and Political and Social Sciences and by the Departments of Law and History."
Furthermore, considering the fact that her thesis focuses mainly on French citizenship law and theory, having professors from different national legal traditions, she adds, also "allowed me to have a more critical look at French law." To this end, Aynès shared her gratitude to the EUI and more specifically to her two supervisors, Professors Loïc Azoulai (former EUI Professor of European Law, Sciences-Po Paris), and Olivier Beaud (University Paris II Panthéon-Assas), for their continued trust and support in her work.
Camille Aynès is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Centre de Théorie et Analyse du Droit in Paris (University Paris Nanterre/CNRS/ENS) and ComUE Paris Lumières. She is also teaching at the Social Sciences Department of the École Normale Supérieure Ulm.