Robert Badinter (; 30 March 1928 – 9 February 2024) was a French lawyer, politician, and author who enacted the abolition of
capital punishment in France in 1981, while serving as Minister of Justice under
François Mitterrand. He also served in high-level appointed positions with national and international bodies working for justice and the rule of law.
Early life
Robert Badinter was born on 30 March 1928, in Paris to Simon Badinter and Charlotte Rosenberg.
His
Bessarabian Jewish family had immigrated to France in 1921 to escape
pogrom
A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...
s. During World War II, after the Nazi occupation of Paris, his family sought refuge in Lyon. His father was captured in the 1943
Rue Sainte-Catherine Roundup and deported with other Jews to the
Sobibor extermination camp
Sobibor ( ; ) was an extermination camp built and operated by Nazi Germany as part of Operation Reinhard. It was located in the forest near the village of Żłobek Duży in the General Government region of Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), ...
, where he was murdered shortly thereafter.
Badinter graduated in law from
Paris Law Faculty of the
University of Paris
The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...
. He then went to the United States to continue his studies at
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in New York City, where he got his
MA. He continued his studies again at
the Sorbonne until 1954.
In 1965, Badinter was appointed a professor at University of Sorbonne. He continued as an
Emeritus
''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus".
In some c ...
professor until 1996.
Political career
Beginnings
Badinter started his career in Paris in 1951, as a lawyer working with
Henri Torrès.
In 1965, along with
Jean-Denis Bredin, he founded the law firm Badinter, Bredin et partenaires, (now
Bredin Prat) where he practiced law until 1981.
The Bontems case
Badinter's activism against capital punishment began after Roger Bontems's execution on 28 November 1972. Along with
Claude Buffet, Bontems had taken a prison guard and a nurse hostage during the
1971 revolt in Clairvaux Prison. While the police were storming the building, Buffet slit the hostages' throats. The jury sentenced both men to death. Badinter served as defense counsel for Bontems and was outraged by the sentence. After witnessing the executions, Badinter dedicated himself to the abolition of capital punishment.
Capital punishment
In this context, he agreed to defend
. In January 1976, eight-year-old Philippe Bertrand was kidnapped. Henry was soon picked up as a suspect, but released because of a lack of evidence. He gave interviews on television, saying that those who kidnapped and killed children deserved death. A few days later, he was arrested again and shown Bertrand's corpse hidden in a blanket under his bed. Badinter and Robert Bocquillon defended Henry, making the case not about Henry's guilt, but against a death sentence. Henry was sentenced to life imprisonment and died months after a
compassionate release from prison in 2017 (after receiving parole in 2001, revoked in 2002). The lenient verdict came as a shock, with several publications having already called the outcome as a virtual certainty for execution; according to speculative sources, the critical vote on the death sentence failing by a seven-to-five vote majority. The case of
Jerome Carrein, condemned 15 days after Henry's sentence for the murder of a child, was widely dubbed the "revenge of the guillotine". Until the execution of
Gary Gilmore in
Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
on 17 January, three days before Henry's verdict, France was the only Western liberal democracy actively performing executions.
Despite president
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's modernist outlook and stated opposition to the guillotine, a further three executions took place during this period, of
Christian Ranucci in July 1976, Carrein in June 1977, and
Hamida Djandoubi in September 1977. Badinter took no part in arguing either case.
[ However, 63% of French voters supported keeping the death penalty at the time it was abolished.][ In 1980-81, Badinter defended Philippe Maurice, whose sentence of death was confirmed by the ]superior court
In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...
in March 1981, weeks before the election of abolitionist François Mitterrand to President. A further eight sentences of death were issued before the bill of abolition was passed by the French parliament in September (the last only two days before the Senate voted) but none reached stage of execution and were converted by the abolition act. Maurice's sentence, after lobbying from Badinter, was commuted by Mitterrand on May 25, among Mitterrand's first acts as president.
Ministerial mandate (1981–1986)
In 1981, François Mitterrand, a self-professed opponent of the death penalty, was elected president and Badinter was appointed as Minister of Justice. Among his first actions was to introduce a bill to Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
proposing the abolition of the death penalty for all crimes, both civilian and military. The bill was passed by the Senate after heated debate on 30 September 1981. On 9 October the law was officially enacted, ending capital punishment in France.
During his mandate, he also helped abolish "''juridictions d'exception'' ("special courts"), such as the Cour de Sûreté de l'État ("") and the military courts, and improved the rights of victims of crime.
He remained a minister until February 1986.
1986–2024
From March 1986 to March 1995, he was president of the French Constitutional Council. From 1995 to 2011, he served as a senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
, representing the Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the ÃŽle-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...
département.
In 1989, he participated in an edition of the Antenne 2 talk show '' Apostrophes'' devoted to human rights, together with the 14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...
. Discussing the disappearance of Tibetan culture
Tibet developed a distinct culture due to its geographic and climatic conditions. While influenced by neighboring cultures from China, India, and Nepal, the Himalayas, Himalayan region's remoteness and inaccessibility have preserved distinct ...
from Tibet, Badinter used the term "cultural genocide
Cultural genocide or culturicide is a concept first described by Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1944, in the same book that coined the term ''genocide''. The destruction of culture was a central component in Lemkin's formulation of genocide ...
". He praised the example of Tibetan nonviolent resistance. Badinter met with the Dalai Lama many times, in particular in 1998 when he greeted him as the "Champion of Human Rights", and again in 2008.
In 1991, Badinter was appointed by the Council of Ministers of the European Community as a member of the Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia
The Arbitration Commission of the Conference on Yugoslavia (commonly known as Badinter Arbitration Committee) was an arbitration body set up by the Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community (EEC) on 27 August 1991 to provide the co ...
. He was elected as president of the commission by the four other members, all presidents of constitutional court
A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...
s in the European Community. The Arbitration Commission has rendered eleven pieces of advice regarding "major legal questions" arising from the split of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
.
Badinter was the first president of the Court of Conciliation and Arbitration of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...
(OSCE) following its creation in 1995; he served in that position until 2013.
Badinter opposed the accession of Turkey to the European Union
Turkey is negotiating its accession to the European Union (EU) as a member state, following its application to become a full member of the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the EU, on 14 April 1987.
After the ten founding ...
, on the grounds that Turkey might not be able to follow the rules of the Union. He was also concerned about the nation's location, saying: "We'll have, we Europeans, common borders with Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq and Syria. I am asking you: What justifies our common borders with these countries? What justifies that we'd get involved in the most dangerous areas of the world?"
As a head of the Arbitration Commission, he gained high respect among Macedonians and other ethnic groups in the Republic of Macedonia
North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...
because he recommended "that the use of the name 'Macedonia' cannot therefore imply any territorial claim against another State". He supported full recognition of the Republic in 1992. He was involved in drafting the so-called Ohrid Agreement in the Republic of Macedonia. This agreement was based on the principle that ethnic-related proposals passed by the national assembly (and later to be applied to actions of city councils and other local government bodies) should be supported by a double majority of both Macedonian and Albanian ethnic groups. This is often called the "Badinter principle".
In 2009, Badinter expressed dismay at the Pope's lifting of the excommunication of controversial English Catholic bishop Richard Williamson, who had expressed Holocaust denial
Historical negationism, Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazi Party, Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims:
...
and was illegally consecrate
Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...
d a bishop. The Pope reactivated the excommunication later.
Badinter was elected to the American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
in 2009.
World Justice Project
Badinter served as an Honorary Co-Chair for the World Justice Project. It works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the rule of law
The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...
for the development of communities of opportunity and equity.
Case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn
At the start of the case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn in 2011, in which the IMF Managing Director was accused of rape and was arrested by the police in New York City, Robert Badinter reacted by saying to France Inter that he was outraged by the "media killing" and denounced the "failure of an entire system" inherent in the perp walk of Strauss-Kahn, a suspect, but also of the media judging an assumed culprit's guilt for charges that had not initiated a trial, and which were eventually dismissed. Strauss-Kahn had been a favoured Socialist candidate for the presidential election the following April, but dropped all pretences of running after his arrest.
Personal life and death
Badinter married philosopher and feminist writer Élisabeth Bleustein-Blanchet, daughter of Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet, who was the founder of Publicis
Publicis Groupe S.A. is a French multinational advertising and public relations company. As of 2024, the company is the largest advertising company in the world by revenue. Based in Paris, it is one of the 'Big Four' advertising commpanies, al ...
, a multinational advertising and public relations company. He died in Paris during the night of 8 to 9 February 2024, at the age of 95.[Robert Badinter est mort](_blank)
President Macron later announced Badinter would be honored with burial in the Panthéon
The Panthéon (, ), is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, Paris, Latin Quarter (Quartier latin), atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was built between 1758 ...
.
Awards
Badinter refused any honorary distinction from the National Order of the Legion of Honor (as did his wife) and the Ordre National du Mérite. He nevertheless received foreign decorations, notably the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (Czech Republic) in 2001. and the Order 8-September (North Macedonia
North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...
) in 2006. As a longstanding activist for the abolition of the death penalty, Robert Badinter was appointed an honorary member of the International Commission Against the Death Penalty. He was awarded the International Abolition Award by Death Penalty Focus in 2023.
Summary of political career
:Political appointments:
:* President of the Constitutional Council: 1986–1995.
:* Minister of Justice: 1981–1986 (resigned upon appointment as president of the Constitutional Council).
:Elected office:
:* Senator for Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the ÃŽle-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...
: 1995–2011. Elected in 1995, reelected in 2004.
Bibliography
* ''L'exécution'' (1973), about the trial of Claude Buffet and Roger Bontems
* ''Condorcet, 1743–1794'' (1988), co-authored with Élisabeth Badinter.
* ''Une autre justice'' (1989)
* ''Libres et égaux : L'émancipation des Juifs (1789–1791)'' (1989)
* ''La prison républicaine, 1871–1914'' (1992)
* ''Un antisémitisme ordinaire'' (1997)
* ''L'abolition'' (2000), recounting his fight for the abolition of the death penalty in France
* ''Une constitution européenne'' (2002)
* ''Le rôle du juge dans la société moderne'' (2003)
* ''Contre la peine de mort'' (2006)
* ''Les épines et les roses'' (2011), on his failures and successes as Minister of Justice
References
External links
Official page of Robert Badinter in the French Senate
*
*
''Vidéo:'' Robert Badinter
en 1976, il motive son engagement contre la peine de mort, une archive de la Télévision suisse romande
*
''UHB Rennes II'' : Autour de l'oeuvre de Robert Badinter: Éthique et justice. Synergie des savoirs et des compétences et perspectives d'application en psychocriminologie. "journées d'étude les 22 et 23 mai 2008 à l'université Rennes 2, sur le thème 'Autour de l'œuvre de Robert Badinter: Éthique et justice
uhb.fr; accessed 12 March 2017.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Badinter, Robert
1928 births
2024 deaths
20th-century French Jews
Columbia University alumni
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
French anti–death penalty activists
French LGBTQ rights activists
Ministers of justice of France
French people of Moldovan-Jewish descent
French senators of the Fifth Republic
Human Rights League (France) members
International members of the American Philosophical Society
Politicians from Paris
Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, 1st class
Senators of Hauts-de-Seine
Socialist Party (France) politicians
Tibet freedom activists
University of Paris alumni
Members of the Constitutional Council (France)