Education
After his B.A. (Sorbonne - Paris, 1947) and his L.L.B. degree (Paris University , 1948), Robert Badinter obtained his A.M. degree in Columbia University in 1949.
Back to France, he accomplished his L.L.D.in 1954. In 1965, he obtained the highest degree in French Law, the « agrégation de Droit », and was appointed Professor of Law in 1966.
Professional career
In 1951, Robert Badinter joined the Paris Bar. He practiced law for thirty years in the reputed firm he created. He has acted as defense attorney in the most important death penalty causes from 1971 to 1981.
In the Academic field, Robert Badinter was successfully appointed Professor of law in the Universities of Besançon, Amiens and, in 1974, the prestigious Paris I University (Panthéon – Sorbonne) in 1994, when he was called to the statute of Professor Emeritus.
Public life
In June 1981, after François Mitterrand had become President of the Republic, Robert Badinter was appointed Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals. He remained in office till February 1986. During the period, Robert Badinter led an intense action to promote civil liberties in French Justice. He presented and supported in Parliament the abolition of death penalty (1981), the suppression of the State Security Court (1981), the Military Courts (1982), the reinforcement of Habeas Corpus (1984) together with new rights for the victims of crime. He was also the President of the Commission which drafted the text of the New French Penal Code adopted in 1992 to replace the old Napoleon Code.
In March 1986, Robert Badinter was appointed President of the Constitutional Council of the French Republic, for a period of nine years. This prestigious body of nine members assumes, among other duties, constitutional adjudication.
In 1991, Robert Badinter was appointed by the Council 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 E.C. The Arbitration Commission has rendered eleven advices on major legal questions arisen by the split of the Yugoslav Federation.
From 1989, Robert Badinter has been called for expertise work on constitutional problems in the new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, notably in the former U.R.S.S., the Czech Republics, Rumania, Bulgaria.
In the last years, Robert Badinter has devoted much of this time and energy to convince European states, notably in Eastern Europe, to call on mediation and arbitration to settle peacefully conflicts between states. In this respect, Robert Badinter is the main promoter of the Stokholm Convention of 1992, creating the « Court of Conciliation and Arbitration in the O.S.C.E. », which has been signed by 31 states, and ratified by 23, up to now. Robert Badinter has been elected President of the Court since 1995.
In October 1995, Robert Badinter has been elected for nine years to the French Senate, by the département des Hauts de Seine, in the Paris region.
In 2003-2004, Robert Badinter was a member of the Convention of Brussels in charge of elaborating a constitutional treaty for E.U. In 2004, he was called by UN Secretary General to be a member of the High Level Panel on threats, challenges and change.
Publications
Apart from various Academic contributions and articles on justice and law, Robert Badinter is the author of :
L’Exécution Grasset 1973
Libertés, Libertés Gallimard 1975
Condorcet, an intellectual in politics, in collaboration with Elisabeth Badinter Fayard 1988
Free and equals, the emancipation of the jews (1789-1791) Fayard 1989
Another justice Fayard 1990
The Republican Prison (1873-1914) Fayard 1993
C.3.3. (with a foreword on Oscar Wilde and justice) Actes Sud 1995
Ordinary antisemitism : Vichy and the jewish lawyers (1940-1944) Fayard 1996
The Abolition Fayard 2000
An European Constitution Fayard 2002
Against Death Penalty Fayard 2006