“A highlight in the history of the courthouse.. A moment that goes beyond the symbolic gesture…” describes Nadine Duboscq, president of the Compiègne court. Friday December 6, the names ofAnne Bollietformer president of the bar who died a year ago, and Robert Badinterformer Minister of Justice who died on February 9, 2024, were allocated to the two courtrooms of the court.
“This choice is not by chance,” continues the president. Anne Bolliet and Robert Badinter are two complementary faces of courage.”
Master Anne Bolliet was a compass
Anne Bolliet, “through her constant demands, her discretion, her rigor, her pragmatism, has remained a compass,” believes Nadine Duboscq. She recalls in particular her fight against the reform of the judicial map then against the abolition of the only position of investigating judge in Compiègne. Anne Bolliet, who died at the age of 56 after a fierce battle with illness, served two terms as President of the Bar: 2007-2008 then 2021-2022.
Robert Badinter left his mark on France with his fierce fight against the death penalty, leading to its abolition in 1981. Less known: his commitment to the decriminalization of homosexuality.
“This place is the place of the search for truth,” concludes Nadine Duboscq. Each audience will carry a trace of their legacy.” She ends her remarks by recalling that the “restructuring of the court is still in progress”.
Robert Badinter and his wife Elisabeth
Prosecutor Guillaume Dupont did not know Anne Bolliet, but he had heard of her “in glowing terms”. He knows, for example, that she was a lover of Pomerol wine. “She shined wherever she went,” he continues. Whether we are a believer or an atheist – I have the weakness to believe – she looks at us from where she is.”
He combines his tribute to Robert Badinter with that of his wife Élisabeth. “Would Robert have been this man without the unwavering support of his wife? They were going to celebrate their azalea wedding, 57 years of marriage. They were together, two inseparable free spirits.”
Eisabeth Badinter had to decline the court’s invitation. “But she wrote us a beautiful letter that we will display next to this plaque,” says the prosecutor.
Anne Bolliet for civil litigation, Robert Badinter for criminal litigation
In the presence of Nathalie Roret, director of the National School of Magistracy (ENM), the prosecutor welcomes the “feminization of the judiciary, generalized in state civil service”. Or 70% of the judiciary. “This ceiling, so long unbreakable, has finally broken,” he comments.
Gérard Ferreira, for the Compiègne bar, evokes the memory of Anne Bolliet. “For nearly thirty years, since she was sworn in in January 1994, she was careful to aim for the center of the cobblestones with her heels, dressed in her lawyer’s dress and her arms loaded with files,” she recalls. -he. The large space she leaves behind is perhaps today a little filled.”
In Robert Badinter, Master Ferreira sees “the most illustrious of lawyers”, “thanks to whom the term “executioner” is no longer associated with justice”.
More generally, he considers that these choices of names respond to “a search for balance, a woman and a man, civil litigation for one, criminal for the other”.
