Whoever ended the guillotine died

Robert Badinter died in France last month.

Fair and correct mentions have been made of the great French jurist Robert Badinter and his fantastic career as a promoter of fundamental values.

However, the truth is that, until now, the world has not expressed, with sufficient forcefulness, the tribute and recognition that Badinter deserves.

As a person, jurist and inexhaustible promoter of democratic values.

And not only in France.

Perhaps it is influenced by the coincidence that Badinter's death occurs in the midst of the blurred regional order in force in Europe and globally.

Within it, tolerance, respect for life and many other democratic values ​​are weakened.

Values ​​for which Badinter persistently fought, a persistent adversary of intolerance and authoritarian logic.

Badinter's life was that of a great democrat, jurist and active promoter of human rights.

Both in his country and in the rest of the world.

He should serve as an example of how in fundamental legal and political institutions, certain leaderships that promote fundamental values ​​allow these institutions and their respective societies to escape vicious circles of intolerance or closure.

Goodbye,

Madame Guillotine

!

Robert Badinter was always open to new challenges, to learning about what was happening in the world.

Starting, by the way, with his own country.

He was initially criticized for having defended causes that went against what the polls said or “from the current”;

such as, for example, the abolition of the death penalty in France, which Badinter was not afraid to promote for reasons of principle.

For this reason, Badinter earned the right reputation as a “moral authority” in matters of fundamental rights.

Among other reasons, because the death penalty, first, lacked the deterrent effect of possible future crimes (which the promoters of capital punishment magnified).

And, second, because its application in specific cases could result from serious human errors in the investigation and trial stages.

Thus executing innocent people.

Things couldn't stay there.

They didn't even stay there.

As Minister of Justice under President François Mitterrand, Robert Badinter, brought to Parliament in 1981 the text of the bill to abolish capital punishment for which the guillotine was used.

The guillotine as a method of execution was born with the French Revolution at the proposal of a surgeon and deputy in the National Assembly, Joseph Ignace Guillotin.

He recommended it to avoid “useless suffering” for those condemned to death.

Badinter and Mitterand knew that public opinion was overwhelmingly in favor of maintaining it.

But it was a matter of principle.

And this is how the legislature understood it, which abolished the death penalty and retired –

forever

– “Madame Guillotine” who had already been “active” for almost 200 years.

Rights: beyond borders

Better known for his role as a French jurist and politician than as an internationalist, this restrictive perception, however, does not fairly translate the essence of what Robert Badinter was.

He was much more than an abolitionist of the death penalty and outlined a route for how relations between Europe and Latin America in matters of democracy and human rights could - and, perhaps, should - develop.

I had the privilege of knowing him well when I served as president of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

In that context we held substantive dialogues in which I was enriched by his sagacity, wisdom and political protection.

In these conversations that we had about fundamental rights in the world, about what was happening in Latin America and about the impact of the rulings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, his desire to produce an effective dialogue was notable.

Really.

Without assuming - ever! - a condescending or paternalistic attitude.

On the contrary, his desire to know more about what was really happening in Latin America took precedence.

And, within that, how an international court like the Inter-American Court of Human Rights influenced - or did not - the real dynamics of things.

That is, the great question of law as a real tool for building a more just, egalitarian and rights-respecting world.

Latin America in France: in style

Badinter was so fascinated with listening and learning about what was happening in the Latin American region that he wanted certain key institutional spaces in France to make known the living experience of Latin America in the field of the affirmation of fundamental rights.

He decided to invite me to a solemn session in the French Council of State, which would also be attended by the president of the European Court of Human Rights.

It was not about giving “lessons” to Latin America through its Inter-American Court.

But to promote and carry out an effective and high-level dialogue.

Which involved, the substantive issues that were discussed and, by the way, the level of the participating institutions and personalities.

All thanks to the drive and skill of the great Robert Badinter in a session and conference that took place at none other than the headquarters of the Conseil d'État (Council of State) within the Palais Royal.

Building full of history;

near the garden where the young Camille Desmoulins harangued the crowd, two days before July 14, thus provoking the revolutionary spark that put freedom, equality and fraternity at the top of France's agenda.

That's a solemn session, right.

But not formalistic or “stuffed.”

Well, it was, at the same time, a space full of enthusiasm and substantive participation of the greatest jurists of France.

A space that, in addition, had special relevance and symbolism as it took place in the French Council of State and with its members.

Being an advisory body of the French government and the highest instance of administrative jurisdiction, the Council of State is entrusted with functions similar to those of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

For example, the advisory and reparative powers for victims of human rights violations, functions assigned to the Inter-American Court by the American Convention on Human Rights.

“Make justice more humane”

“I tried to transform Justice, make it more humane,” Badinter said in November 2023 in an interview on the program

La Grande Libraire

.

With certainty and without a doubt I would say yes.

Badinter was successful in that perspective.

And I had the privilege of seeing it “in action.”

And see how he promoted the connection between Europe and Latin America as the space for a possible and necessary dialogue.

And not like the imposition of values ​​and criteria of some -Europe- on others (Latin America).

Salutations maître Badinter!

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