were commuted to life sentences life following the Court’s decision, which was binding to all courts19. Ten prisoners were on death row at that time. In September 2000 Albania ratified Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights concerning the abolition of the death penalty. The Criminal Code was amended to abrogate those provisions which make specific reference to the death penalty20. A three-year moratorium on executions had been introduced in May 1995. Although it had not been officially extended following its expiry, a de facto moratorium based on the competence of the Supreme Court and the President to commute death sentences into life imprisonment had remained in place21. The Constitutional Court’s ruling came at a time when tendencies aimed at lifting the moratorium enjoyed widespread public support due to the violent events of late 1997 and a significant rise in the crime rate. Albanian courts passed six death verdicts in 1998. 4.2. Armenia Thirteen offences carry a possible death sentence under the present Criminal Code of Armenia which has been in force, as amended, since 1961. They include treason, espionage, terrorist acts, sabotage, crimes against the State, banditry, forgery or circulation of false money or securities, aggravated murder or rape, hijacking, and bribe taking. The military section of the Criminal Code provides for an additional 16 capital crimes in times of war. The death penalty may not be imposed on persons below 18 years of age at the time of the crime, on pregnant women, or the insane22. Although Armenia announced at the October 1998 UN Human Rights Committee hearings that a new Criminal Code completely abolishing the death penalty would come into force by 1 January 199923, the draft is still awaiting its final reading in parliament. In view of the slow parliamentary process, the Presidential Commission on Human Rights and non-governmental organizations proposed to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR as a faster way to abolition. According to the Armenian Constitution, international treaties ratified by the parliament become a constituent part of the legal system and prevail over other laws. Following its accession to the Council of Europe, Armenia signed Protocol No. 6 to the ECHR in January 2001. While death sentences are still handed down regularly by Armenian courts, there is a de facto moratorium on executions in place, based on the President’s constitutional authority to exercise pardon. President Kocharyan has stated that Armenia will not carry out death sentences and that individuals convicted in connection with the violence in the National Assembly on 27 October 1999, during which eight persons were killed, would not be executed24. In 1999 three people were sentenced to death by Armenian courts and six people have been sentenced to death since January 2000. As of 30 June 2001, 37 persons are on death row25. 4.3 Azerbaijan 10