Conceptions of justice, law and civil procedure reform in Europe (1971-2025). The influence of Rawls, Habermas, and Dworkin in England, France, and Germany from a comparative historical-institutional perspective

Few thinkers have been so influential in their conceptions of law and justice that they have not only remained within the realm of intellectual legal debate but have also transcended into the practical realm of reforms carried out within the framework of European civil law during the second half of the 20th century. This is the case with John Rawls, Jürgen Habermas, and Ronald Dworkin. Using a mixed qualitative methodology—historical, hermeneutic, and comparative—the objective of this research is to analyze, from a comparative historical-institutional perspective, how conceptions of justice and law influenced civil procedure reform in Europe between 1971 and 2025, with special attention to the differing reception of Rawls, Habermas, and Dworkin in England, France, and Germany. In conclusion, it is emphasized that the thinkers examined in this study are not merely key figures in the history of legal philosophy, but intellectual frameworks that help explain why the reform of European civil procedure has oscillated between the promise of more accessible justice and the risk of an increasingly technocratic administration of social conflict.