death_penalty_new.qxd 02-08-27 12:57 Page 46 THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE OSCE AREA Upon accession to the Council of Europe on 28 February 1996, the Russian Federation committed itself to sign Protocol No. 6 to the ECHR within a year and to ratify it within three years. A Presidential Decree was issued on 16 May 1996 which requested the Government to elaborate a draft law on the ratification of Protocol No. 6 to the ECHR161. As of 30 June 2002, Protocol No. 6 to the ECHR has still not been ratified. Moratorium: A draft moratorium law was rejected by the Parliament on 14 March 1997. Despite this a two-tier de facto moratorium is currently in place that prohibits both the application and execution of death sentences. Firstly, executions have not been carried out since August 1996, as the President exercises his authority to issue pardon as a matter of course. On 3 June 1999 President Yeltsin signed a Decree commuting the death sentence of all 713 convicts on death row to either life imprisonment or 25-year prison terms162. The second tier of the moratorium is a Resolution of the Constitutional Court163. The Resolution prevents courts from passing death sentences on the basis that the Russian Constitution provides for the right to trial by jury in cases where the death penalty is envisaged for the crime that has been committed164. At the time of the decision jury trials were only available in nine of the 89 subjects of the Federation165. However, the new Criminal Procedure Code, which entered into force on 1 July 2002, foresees the introduction of juries throughout the entire Federation. This will remove the bar that the Constitutional Court has placed upon death sentences, and will make the continuation of the de facto moratorium dependent on the political will of the President. The existence of the moratorium remains a controversial subject in the Russian Federation, however the President is firmly against reinstating the death penalty166. Method of execution: Shooting167. Relatives are not informed of the date of execution. The location of the burial place is not disclosed to the relatives168. 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 Decree # 724 ‘On Gradual Decrease of Death Penalty Application in Connection with Accession of Russia to the Council of Europe’. Gazeta.Ru, 3 June 1999 Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, 2 February 1999. Article 20 (2) of the Constitution. The ruling was applied to the whole Federation to prevent inequality before the law. Death Penalty News, September 2001, AI ACT 53/004/2001, Amnesty International, London. p. 1. Article 186 of the Criminal Executive Code. Article 186(4) of the Criminal Executive Code. 46