On 9 December 1981, the French National Assembly adopted legislation abolishing the death penalty for all crimes, a landmark decision that ended capital punishment in metropolitan France and its territories. The law, enacted under President François Mitterrand and driven by Justice Minister Robert Badinter, reflected decades of legal reform, shifting public opinion, and postwar European trends against state execution. Historical context Capital punishment had a long history in France, with the guillotine becoming the symbol of state execution after its adoption during the French Revolution. Though the use of the death penalty declined in the 20th century, France carried out executions for serious crimes, including wartime collaboration and murder. After World War II there was intermittent public and political debate about the appropriateness of execution as punishment. Political process When François Mitterrand, a Socialist, took office in May 1981, his government made abolition a stated objective. Robert Badinter, appointed Minister of Justice, prepared the legislative initiative and argued against the death penalty in parliamentary debates, invoking legal, moral, and practical reasons. The National Assembly voted in favor of abolition on 17 September 1981, and the Senate later approved the measure. The law formally came into force on 9 December 1981, removing capital punishment from the French penal code. Legal and practical effects The abolition replaced the death penalty with life imprisonment (réclusion criminelle à perpétuité) as the severest penalty. Existing sentences were commuted where necessary, and the change required adjustments to criminal procedure and sentencing law. Abolition aligned France with an emerging European consensus: several Western European democracies had already abolished capital punishment, and the change facilitated France’s later participation in regional legal instruments that prohibit executions. Domestic and international reaction Within France, reactions were mixed but decisive in government circles: abolition was supported by many human rights groups, intellectuals, and left-leaning parties, while some conservative elements and victims’ families opposed the change. Internationally, abolition was welcomed by human rights organizations and governments campaigning against capital punishment, and it strengthened broader European movements toward abolition, culminating in legal guarantees against executions in European institutions and treaties. Legacy Since 1981, abolition has become a durable part of French law and policy. The prohibition on the death penalty is reflected in France’s criminal code and in its active advocacy at international forums. Debates over criminal justice, sentencing, and the appropriate response to violent crime have continued, but the legal ban on executions has remained intact. France later incorporated abolitionist commitments into its international positions, supporting treaties and resolutions that oppose reinstating capital punishment. Notes on sources This summary is based on widely documented legislative and historical records concerning the abolition of the death penalty in France in 1981. Details about dates, political actors, and legal effects are matters of public record in French government archives and contemporary reportage.