The late French justice minister Robert Badinter saved many lives by dedicating his own to the fight against capital punishment, playing a pivotal role in banning the guillotine in 1981. A soft-spoken attorney, Badinter said he could not abide by a "killer justice system", and was widely vilified for pushing through legislation banning the death penalty at a time when most French people still supported the practice. Badinter turned the case into a trial of the death penalty, calling in experts to describe in grisly detail the workings of the guillotine.