This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies Find out more here
France's former justice minister Robert Badinter, who has died aged 95, "was a brilliant lawyer who in the 1970s became convinced that capital punishment should be abolished for humanitarian reasons”, says Paul Smith, associate professor in French atudies at the UK's University of Nottingham, calling him "one of those dominant figures in French politics".