Capital punishment in France

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Capital punishment in France was abolished in 1981. The last executions took place in 1977 - being the last in the then European Community. The last person to be executed was Hamida Djandoubi, on September 10 and France's last executioner was Marcel Chevalier.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Adoption of the Guillotine 1.2 1939 onwards 2 Abolition 2.1 1981: The Process of Abolition 3 Feasibility of re-establishment 4 Variations in French Opinion 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Adoption of the Guillotine

The guillotine had been proposed as a means of execution in 1789 by Joseph-Ignace Guillotin. 1792 and the French Revolution marked the end of hanging by requiring all executions to be accomplished by means of the blade, rather than reserving it only for nobles. However, as beheading by a hand-held axe or blade is a comparatively inefficient method of execution compared to hanging, the suggestion of the mechanical guillotine was adopted. The device was first used on Nicholas-Jacques Pelletier on April 25. Guillotine usage then spread to other countries.

[edit] 1939 onwards

Public executions were the norm and continued until 1939. The last person to be publicly guillotined was murderer Eugen Weidmann, on June 17 outside the Palais de Justice at Versailles. Photographs of the execution appeared in the press, and apparently this spectacle provoked the government to cease the practice of public executions. Instead, from June 24, executions were held in La Santé Prison in Paris

The 1940s and the wartime period saw an increase in the number of executions, including the first executions of women since the 19th century.

In the 1950s to the 1970s, the number of executions steadily decreased, with for example Georges Pompidou, president of France between 1969 to 1974, giving clemency to all but three people out of the fifteen sentenced to death. President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing oversaw the last executions.

[edit] Abolition

The first official debate on the death penalty in France took place on the 30th May 1791, with the presentation of a bill aimed at abolishing it. The advocate was Louis-Michel Lepeletier of Saint-Fargeau and the bill was supported by Maximilien de Robespierre. However, the National Constituent Assembly, on the October 6 1791, refused to abolish the death penalty. (But it did away with torture).

On the October 26 1795, the National Convention abolished Capital Punishment, but only to signify the day of general peace. With the arrival of Napoleon Bonaparte, the death penalty, which in fact hadn't yet been abolished, was reinstated on the 12th February 1810, in the French Imperial Penal Code.

The President of the Republic Armand Fallieres, a supporter of abolition, continued to systematically pardon every convict condemned to death over his 3 years period in office.

In 1906 the Commission of the budget of the Chamber of Députés voted for the suppression of funding for the guillotine. This vote aimed at stopping the execution procedure. On the 3rd July 1908, the Guard of Sceaux, Aristide Briand, submitted a plan of law to the députés, dated November 1906, on the abolition of the death penalty. Despite the support of Jean Jaurès, the plan was rejected on the December 8 by 330 votes against 201.

Under the Vichy Regime, Marshal Pétain refused to pardon eight women who would be guillotined (something which hadn't occurred for nearly 50 years) and five others condemned of common right.

With an indictment from Robert Badinter, Patrick Henry escaped being condemned to death on the January 21 1977 for the murder of a child. Numerous newspapers predict the end of the death penalty. On the September 10 1977, Hamida Djandoubi was guillotined—he was the last person executed in France.

Robert Badinter, a long time opponent of Capital Punishment and the defending lawyer of some of the last men executed, became minister of justice and proposed the final abolition of the death penalty in 1981, which was pushed through the National Assembly with the backing of newly elected president François Mitterrand. The book Le Pull-over rouge and consequent film, documenting the possibly unsound conviction and execution of one of these, Christian Ranucci, is credited with helping to bring about this abolition.

[edit] 1981: The Process of Abolition

• March 16, 1981: During the presidential election campaign, François Mitterrand declared that he was against the death penalty. He was elected President of the French Republic on the May 10.

• May 25: François Mitterrand pardoned Philippe Maurice, the last person condemned to death to be pardoned.

• August 26: The Council of Ministers approved the plan of law, abolishing the death penalty.

• September 17: Robert Badinter presented the law plan to the Assemblée Nationale. It was voted in on the 18th, with 363 votes against 117.

• September 30: Several amendments of the Sénat were rejected. The law was officially voted on by the two chambers.

• October 9: The law was promulgated. The last western European country to practise the death penalty abolished it.

[edit] Feasibility of re-establishment

Today, although many French politicians declare themselves to be in favour of the death penalty, its re-establishment would not be possible without the unilateral French rejection of several international treaties which would degrade the international image of France, particularly in the EU.

On 20 December 1985, France ratified "additional protocol number 6" at the European Convention to safeguard human rights and fundamental liberties. This meant that France can no longer re-establish the death penalty, except in times of war or by denouncing the Convention.

On 21 June 2001, Jacques Chirac sent a letter to the association "Ensemble" saying he was against the death penalty: "It's a fight which we have to lead with determination and conviction. Because no justice is infallible and each execution can kill an innocent. Because nothing can legitimize the execution of minors or of people suffering from mental deficiencies. Because death can never constitute an act of justice".

On 3 May 2002, France and 30 other countries signed Protocol number 13 at the European Convention on human rights. This forbids the death penalty in all circumstances, even in times of war. It went into effect on 1 July 2003, after 10 failed ratifications.

Despite the above, in 2004, a law proposition (number 1521) was placed before the National Assembly, suggesting re-establishment of the death penalty for terrorist acts. The proposition was not adopted. On 3 January 2006, Jacques Chirac announced a revision of the Constitution aimed at writing off the death penalty. (On the previous 13th October, the Constitutional Council had deemed the ratification of the second facultative protocol of the international pact necessitated such a revision of the Constitution. The protocol concerned civil and political rights aimed at abolishing the death penalty.)

On 19 February 2007, the Congress of France (the National Assembly and the Senate, reunited for the day) voted overwhelmingly a modification of the Constitution that states that "no one can be sentenced to the death penalty". There 828 votes for the modification, and 26 against.

[edit] Variations in French Opinion

During the 20th Century, French opinion on the death penalty has greatly changed as many polls have showed large differences from one time to another.

• In 1908, Le Petit Parisien published a poll in which 77% of people asked were in favor of the death penalty.
• In 1960, a survey from the IFOP showed that 50% of the French were against, while 39% were for.
• In 1972, in a survey from the same institute, 27% of those surveyed were for abolition while 63% were for capital punishment.
• In 1981, Le Figaro carried out a survey the day after the vote for abolition. It indicated that 62% of the French were for maintaining the death penalty.
• In 1998, IFOP's and France Soir's survey showed that opinions were split in half, with 54% against the death penalty and 44% for it.^[1]

• In 2006, TNS Sofres survey confirmed opposition of the French people to death penalty: 52% are now against death penalty, only 41% are pro-death penalty.

As will all surveys on a subject this sensitive, public opinion is quite changeable, depending on current affairs. The different surveys taken have shown that, at the time of appalling crimes (particularly those which affect children), public opinion can quickly return to a majority in favour of re-establishing capital punishment.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• http://flatrock.org.nz/topics/prisons/methods_of_capital_punishment.htm
• http://www.willamette.edu/wits/llc/worldnews/xmar03a/artvanfr.html