The cultural defense is an informal term that describes the use of cultural information to mitigate criminal responsibility, often used in conjunction with traditional defense strategies such as provocation or insanity. Arguments for the cultural defense include respecting cultural practices under the liberal narrative that frames the United States as a multicultural and pluralistic society. Advocates of the cultural defense recognize the harmful effects of the false universalism of the law. However, the cultural defense has been criticized as essentialist and harmful as it has been used in high profile cases to justify violence against women of color. The cultural defense superficially prioritizes the needs of marginalized communities by acknowledging the importance of culture in the administration of the criminal law. The rationale behind the cultural defense is politically appealing, but the impacts of the defense are incompatible with the goals of antisubordination, which will be further described by Critical Race Theory. Because the debate surrounding the cultural defense has yet to make significant advances, I argue that Critical Race Theory offers an essential starting point in intervening in the debate, ultimately transforming the realm of legal jurisprudence through its explicit race consciousness and examination of racialized power. In particular, I will examine the concepts of intersectionality and interest convergence which will offer valuable perspective into the cultural defense debate.

Le problème de ma recherche se pose ainsi : comment le droit pénal et lapolitique criminelle dans les sociétés multiculturelles et démocratiques doivent-ils réagirface aux délits culturellement motivés, commis par les immigrés -ou de leurs descendants?La dissertation analyse des réponses de la justice pénale des pays occidentaux déterminésface aux trois tipes soi-disant pratiques culturelles néfastes aux femmes qui constituent lesexemples des conflits des cultures.Tout d’abord j’analyse comment les pays européens ont réagi aux suivantes pratiquescontroverses : la violence liée a l’honneur, les mutilations sexuelles féminines et mariagesforcés. Ensuite, je présente le concept de la défense par la culture, caractéristique pour lesystème common law. C’est une stratégie de la défense pour les accusés des délitsculturellement motivés. Enfin, j’étudie les contextes et réponses différentes aux délitsculturellement motivés en l’Europe et aux Etats Unis et aussi la dimension internationale duproblème. Je finalise ma dissertation avec une conclusion que le système de droit pénal etla justice dans les pays démocratiques libéraux et multiculturels doivent être un garant de lavalidité de consensus de la protection égale et non-discriminatoire des valeursfondamentales pour tous les membres de la société sans égard a leur genre ou l’ethnicité. / The main research problem is how penal law and criminal policy inmulticultural and liberal states should react on culturally motivated crimes committed byimmigrants. The dissertation analyses the criminal justice responses of certain westerncountries to three types of so-called harmful traditional practices, which are fine examples ofconflict of cultures. Firstly, I analyse how European countries addressed following harmfultraditional practices: ‘honour’-related violence, female genital mutilation and forcedmarriages. Secondly, I present the concept of cultural defence, generic for common law,which is a strategy of defence for offenders for culturally motivated crimes. Thirdly, I studythe different contexts and responses to culturally motivated crimes in Europe and UnitedStates, so the international dimension of the problem. Finally, I culminate my dissertationwith the conclusion that criminal law and criminal justice in democratic liberal andmulticultural states should be a guarantor of the validity of consensus for equal and nondiscriminatoryprotection of basic values for all members of society regardless their ethnicorigin or gender.