Published on February 9, 2024 at 4:34 p.m. / Modified on February 9, 2024 at 9:12 p.m.
He is very probably the most prestigious political incarnation of the Mitterrand years in France, luminous lawyer and Keeper of the Seals from June 1981 to February 1986 within the Mauroy and Fabius governments: the great Robert Badinter, to whom many owe their broken proximity with the The scaffold, flew away during the night from Thursday to Friday, five years before its centenary. He is especially remembered for this great “feat of arms”: his fight for the abolition of the death penalty, which he won very early in his career thanks to the vote of left-wing deputies (but also with that of … Jacques Chirac) in the National Assembly, at the dawn of autumn 1981. This, in a European country then castigated worldwide for this penal practice from another age on democratic and republican soil, but where the population was still majority in favor of the supreme punishment.
To read: Former French Justice Minister Robert Badinter dies
Interested in this item?
CHECK OFFERS Good reasons to subscribe to Le Temps:
-
Consult all unlimited content on the site and the mobile application
-
Access the paper edition in digital version before 7 a.m.
-
Benefit from exclusive privileges reserved for subscribers
-
Access the archives
Already a subscriber? To log in