16 The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area departments indicated that a decision on abolishing the death penalty in 2004 would have been premature. Just two years since the aforementioned judgement was delivered, the realistic prospect – as noted by the Constitutional Court and buttressed by judicial practice – of abolishing the death penalty is distinctly clear. We maintain that Belarus will move towards abolition of the death penalty, and a possible first step could be declaring a moratorium on using it for any crime. The only exception, in our opinion, could be its application in cases of terrorism leading to mass deaths (although no such crime has been committed in Belarus). There is no doubt that the introduction of a moratorium on the death penalty should be preceded by a series of preparatory measures, including, first of all, a study of public opinion. Adopting a resolution on a moratorium on the death penalty requires that the relevant bodies conduct a thorough multilateral assessment of the criminogenic situation, and primarily a study of the influence this has on criminality. The moratorium should be subject to repeal given even the slightest increase in the murder rate. As noted above, based on parliamentary hearings on political and legal aspects of the death penalty in Belarus, on 13 July 2002, the House of Representatives adopted recommendations aimed at a number of ministries and government departments. In particular, it recommended that the Belarusian cabinet of ministers study the issue of the death penalty based on the possibility of gradually introducing a moratorium on its application for individual crimes, and later to declare a moratorium on courts handing down death sentences ahead of abolishing the death penalty altogether. This recommendation indicated the willingness of the Belarusian state legislature to adopt a positive decision on the problem. This is also evidenced by the parliament’s request in 2003 that the Supreme Court examine the constitutionality of those standards of the Criminal Code that allow the use of the death penalty. The aforementioned recommendations also noted the necessity of carrying out a number of preparatory measures ahead of implementing a practical solution to the problem. These measures deal with improvements to correctional institutions, better preventative work among young people, persistence in developing a legal culture among citizens and shaping the relevant public opinion, sociological research into the effectiveness of introducing a moratorium on the death penalty in Belarus, etc. Many of the measures recommended by the parliament had not been implemented by the time the Constitutional Court delivered its judgement, which was one circumstance indicating that the state was, on the whole, unprepared for adopting a final decision on the death penalty.