Olivier Duhamel

Olivier Duhamel (French: [dyamɛl]; born 2 May 1950) is a French former university professor and politician.^[1] As a member of the social-democratic Socialist Party, he was elected as a member of the European Parliament from 1997 to 2004.^[1][2] In 2021 he resigned from the FNSP and his academic position after being accused of the sexual abuse of a minor.

Olivier Duhamel
President of the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques
In office 10 May 2016 – 4 January 2021
Preceded by	Jean-Claude Casanova
Succeeded by	Laurence Bertrand Dorléac
Member of the European Parliament
In office 1997–2004
Preceded by	Pierre Moscovici
Personal details
Born	(1950-05-02) 2 May 1950 (age 75) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Spouse	Évelyne Pisier
Alma mater	Paris Nanterre University

Biography

Olivier Duhamel was born on 2 May 1950 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France,^[2] the son of politician Jacques Duhamel.^[3]

He has taught at the University of Franche-Comté, Paris West University Nanterre La Défense, and the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.^[1] He was also a visiting professor at the University of Washington and New York University.^[1] He is a faculty member of Sciences Po, though he stopped teaching in 2010.^[1][4][5][6]

He was an advisor to the Constitutional Council from 1983 to 1995, and to Georges Vedel in 1993 and Édouard Balladur in 2007.^[1][6] He served as MEP from 1997 to 2004.^[1][2]

He writes in the popular press for La Marseillaise and Valeurs Actuelles.^[1] He is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of another publication, POUVOIRS.^[1][5][6][7] He is an editor for the European Constitutional Law Review.^[1] He also appears on France Culture, LCI, and Europe 1.^[1][5][6]

He is the Vice-President of Le Siècle.^[8] He is also a member of the Club des Juristes, a legal think tank in France.^[6]

Accusation of incest and child abuse

Main article: Duhamel scandal

See also: Sciences Po § Duhamel scandal

In January 2021, he was accused by his stepdaughter Camille Kouchner in a book titled La Familia Grande of sexually abusing her twin brother, Duhamel's stepson, when he was 13 in 1988: this offence is outside the statute of limitation for criminal charges.^[3][9] He subsequently resigned from the FNSP, his academic, and media posts.^[3][10] Saying “Being the subject of personal attacks, and eager to protect the institutions I work for, I resign from [all of my positions]."^[11] The allegations against him are said to have sparked an online movement of people speaking out about family abuse,^[12][13][14] and to have led to new laws toughening sexual assault laws against minors.^[15] On 5 January 2021, Paris prosecutors opened an investigation into the allegations.^[11] In mid-April 2021, French media, citing sources close to the investigation, reported that Duhamel had admitted to sexually abusing his stepson.^[16][17]

Bibliography

• Chili ou la Tentative, Révolution/Légalité (Gallimard,1974)
• La Gauche et la Cinquième République (PUF, 1980)
• Dictionnaire des œuvres politiques (co-edited with François Châtelet and Évelyne Pisier, PUF, 1986)
• Dictionnaire constitutionnel (co-edited with Yves Mény, PUF, 1991)
• Las Democracias (co-edited with Manuel Cepeda, TM editors, Bogota)
• Démocratie, démocraties (co-edited with Robert Darnton, Éditions du Rocher, 1999)
• Le quinquennat (Presses de Sciences Po, 2000, 2008)
• Vive la VI^e République (Seuil, 2002)
• Pour l'Europe - Le texte intégral de la Constitution expliqué et commenté (Seuil, 2003)
• Histoire des présidentielles (Seuil, 2007)
• Le starkozysme (co-written with Michel Field, Seuil, 2008)
• Droit constitutionnel et institutions politiques (Seuil, 2009)
• Histoire de la V^e République (1958–2009) (co-written with Guy Carcassonne and Jean-Jacques Chevallier, Dalloz, 2009).