On December 10, 1998, by an overwhelming majority,...

On December 10, 1998, by an overwhelming majority, the Bulgarian Parliament passed a bill abolishing the death penalty for all crimes. The death penalty has been replaced by a non-commutable sentence of life imprisonment not applicable to persons under 20 years of age and women who are pregnant at the time of the offense or the judgment. Until then the courts had continued to pass death sentences but they were not carried out because of a moratorium introduced by the Parliament on July 20, 1990. The Bulgarian Vice-President has commuted the 21 death sentences passed between 1990 and 1998 to life imprisonment.