Robert Badinter died at the age of 95, during the night from Thursday to Friday. For several generations in the world of justice, he was a model and an inspiration.
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The world of justice is affected by the death of Robert Badinter, on the night of Thursday February 8 to Friday February 9. The former lawyer and minister of justice was 95 years old. Emmanuel Macron announces a national tribute. His struggles spanned an entire profession: abolition of the death penalty, decriminalization of homosexuality… The lawyers met on Friday morning saluted a man of conviction and an inspiring lawyer.
With eyes full of emotion, criminal lawyer Boris Rosenthal learned of the death of Robert Badinter while training at the Issy-les-Moulineaux law school: “I am from the Badinter class and I still remember his words when he welcomed us, student lawyers. With all the battles he had led at the time, particularly on the death penalty, he told us that the most important fights were to come. And he was absolutely right. I am devastated by this news, because learning it here, and sharing it with my classmates, is quite upsetting.”
“He was not a lukewarm lawyer”
His colleague Emmanuel Daoud agrees. For him, Robert Badinter was an example for all generations of lawyers: “He has always led difficult battles. Obviously there is the repeal of the death penalty but not only that. On exiles, refugees, migrants… He committed himself against the jungle of Calais so that the “The State does its job and we welcome people. He was not a lukewarm lawyer and he passed on to us this flame, this love of the profession. To see a lawyer so committed, so involved, we were not simply under the spell, it was first of all a source of inspiration. We left each time pumped up and saying to ourselves ‘Damn, he’s a lawyer and we want to be a little like him’.”
“We will all keep the image of a great man, whatever our political opinions, whatever our experiences.”
Julia Redon, lawyerat franceinfo
Julia Redon, social law lawyer, highlights his personality which resonated well beyond the courts and the government, when he was Minister of Justice: “He had an aura that gave a kind of immortality. He’s one of those people who are a bit untouchable. And then he’s also someone we’ve never found in slightly rotten stories and who has when even a certain exemplary nature.” This is why, despite her age, Julia says it: “His death really means something to me.”