Robert Badinter during a demonstration against the death penalty in Paris, on February 3rd, 2007

Robert Badinter (born March 30, 1928) is a high-profile French criminal lawyer, university professor and politician mainly known for his struggle against the death penalty. A member of the Socialist Party (PS), he served as Minister of Justice and then President of Constitutional Council under François Mitterrand. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 395 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (494 × 749 pixel, file size: 57 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 395 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (494 × 749 pixel, file size: 57 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... is the 89th day of the year (90th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of statutory and common law that deals with crime and the legal punishment of criminal offenses. ... For the fish called lawyer, see Burbot. ... Representation of a university class, 1350s. ... The meaning of the word professor (Latin: one who claims publicly to be an expert) varies. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ... Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... The emblem of the French Socialist Party The Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste or PS), founded in 1969, is the main opposition party in France. ... The French Minister of Justice (Ministre de la Justice) is an important cabinet official in the Government of France. ... A republican guard giving directions to visitors at the front entrance of the Constitutional Council The Constitutional Council (Conseil Constitutionnel) was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958. ...   IPA: (October 26, 1916 – January 8, 1996) was President of France from 1981 to 1995, elected as representative of the Socialist Party (PS). ...

He is currently a Senator for the Hauts-de-Seine département. The Senate amphitheater in the Luxembourg Palace The Senate (in French :le Sénat) is the upper house of the Parliament of France. ... Hauts-de-Seine is a département in France. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France and many former French colonies, roughly analogous to English counties. ...

Political career

Death penalty

Badinter's struggle against the death penalty began after Roger Bontems's execution, on November 28, 1972. Along with Claude Buffet, Bontems had taken a prison guard and a nurse hostage during the 1971 revolt in Clairvaux Prison. During the police storm, Buffet sliced the throat of the hostages. Badinter was the attorney for Bontems, and although it was established during the trial that Buffet alone was the murderer, the jury still decided to sentence both men to death. Applying the death penalty to a person who had not killed outraged Badinter to the point that he dedicated himself to the abolition of the death penalty. is the 332nd day of the year (333rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Clairvaux Prison is a high-security prison in France, on the site of the former Clairvaux Abbey. ...

In this context, and as a lawyer, he accepted to defend Patrick Henry. In January 1976, 8-year old Philipe Bertrand was kidnapped. Patrick Henry was suspected very soon, but released because of a lack of proof. He gave interviews on television, saying that those who kidnapped and killed children deserved death. A few days later, he was again arrested, and shown young Philippe's corpse hidden in a blanket under his bed. Badinter and Robert Bocquillon defended Henry, making a case not in favour of Henry, but against the death penalty. The defence won, and Henry was sentenced to life imprisonment. Patrick Henry is a French criminal, born on March 31, 1953 in Troyes (France). ...

The death penalty was again applied in France later on, but it became a public matter. Between 1976 and 1981, three people were executed.

Ministerial mandate (1981-1986)

In 1981, François Mitterrand was elected president, and Badinter became the Minister of Justice. Among his first actions was a bill to the French Parliament that abolished the death penalty for all crimes, which the Parliament voted after heated debate on September 30, 1981.   IPA: (October 26, 1916 – January 8, 1996) was President of France from 1981 to 1995, elected as representative of the Socialist Party (PS). ... The French Minister of Justice (Ministre de la Justice) is an important cabinet official in the Government of France. ... Symbol of the French government The government of France is a semi-presidential system based on the French Constitution of the fifth Republic, in which the nation declares itself to be an indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic. The constitution provides for a separation of powers and proclaims Frances... is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

During his mandate, he also passed several laws, such as:

• Abolition of the "juridictions d'exception" ("exceptional trials"), like the Cour de Sûreté de l'État ("Security Court of the State") and the military tribunals in time of peace.
• Consolidation of private liberties (such as the lowering of the age of consent for homosexual sex to that for heterosexual sex)
• Improval of the Rights of Victims (any convicted person can make an appeal before the European Commission for Human Rights and the European Court for Human Rights)
• Development of sentences without a loss of liberty (like general interest work for minor petty crimes)

He remained a minister until February 18, 1986. Age of consent laws Worldwide While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes,[1] when used with reference to criminal law the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be capable of legally giving informed consent to any... Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... From 1954 to the entry into force of Protocol 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, individuals did not have direct access to the European Court of Human Rights; they had to apply to the European Commission of Human Rights, which if it found the case to be well... European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), often referred to informally as the Strasbourg Court, was created to systematise the hearing of human rights complaints against States Parties to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by... is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ...

1986-1992

From March 1986 to March 1995 he was president of the French Constitutional Council, and since the 24th of September 1995 he has been a senator for the Hauts-de-Seine département. Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... A republican guard giving directions to visitors at the front entrance of the Constitutional Council The Constitutional Council (Conseil Constitutionnel) was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958. ... The Senate amphitheater in the Luxembourg Palace The Senate (in French :le Sénat) is the upper house of the Parliament of France. ... Hauts-de-Seine is a département in France. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties. ...

In 1991, he was appointed by the Councel of Ministers of the European Community as a member of the Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on the former Yugoslavia. He was elected as President of the Commission by the four other members, all Presidents of Constitutional Courts in the European Community. The Arbitration Commission has rendered eleven advices on "major legal questions" arisen by the split of the SFRY.^[1] Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Established 1952 Presiding Country Portugal President Luís Amado President in Office José Sócrates Members 27 (at one time) Political parties 7, including: European Peoples Party Party of European Socialists Meeting place Justus Lipsius, Brussels, Belgium, European Union Web site http://www. ... The Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on the Former Yugoslavia (commonly known as Badinter Arbitration Committee) was a commission set up by Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community in 1991 to provide Peace Conference on the Former Yugoslavia with legal advice. ... A Constitutional Court is a high court found in many countries which deals primary with constitutional law. ... The European Community (EC) was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ... The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a Balkan state that existed from 1945 to 1992. ...

Recent times

He continues his struggle against the death penalty in China and the United States of America, petitioning officials and militating in the World Congress against Death Penalty.

He recently opposed the adhesion of Turkey to the European Union, on the grounds that Turkey might not be able to follow the rules of the Union. Also, the geographic setting of Turkey makes it a bad candidate according to Badinter: "Why should Europe be neighbour with Georgia, Armenia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, the former Caucasus, that is, the most dangerous region of these times? Nothing in the project of the founding fathers was predicting this extension, I dare not say this expansion." It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Caucasus Mountains. ...

He was involved in drafting the Ohrid Agreement in Republic of Macedonia. The principle in this agreement that farreaching proposals in parliament should be supported by a majority of both ethnic groups is often called the "Badinter principle". He still is advising the Republic of Macedonia. The Ohrid Agreement, or the Ohrid Framework Agreement was the peace deal signed by the government of the Republic of Macedonia and Albanian representatives in 2001. ... For an explanation of terms related to Macedonia, see Macedonia (terminology). ...

Personal life

He is married to the feminist writer Élisabeth Badinter. Élisabeth Badinter (* March 5, 1944, née Élisabeth Bleustein-Blanchet in Boulogne-Billancourt, France) is a French author, feminist and professor of Philosophy at the École Polytechnique in Paris. ...

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)
• C.3.3 - Oscar Wilde ou l'injustice (1995)
• 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)

For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The French Minister of Justice (Ministre de la Justice) is an important cabinet official in the Government of France. ...

References

1. ^ Curriculum vitae of Robert Badinter on un.org

External links

• Official page of Robert Badinter in the French Senate