Russia has had a moratorium on executions since 1996

Russia has had a moratorium on executions since 1996. Former president Boris Yeltsin imposed it when Russia joined the Council of Europe on February 28 of that year. A draft moratorium law was rejected by the Parliament on March 14, 1997. On June 2, 1999, President Yeltsin issued a decree commuting the death sentences of the 716 death row inmates to life or 25 years in prison. The current president, Vladimir Putin, refuses to lift this moratorium despite soaring crime and strong public support for the death penalty. The retention of the moratorium has become completely dependent on the political will of the president since, on January 1, 2003, a new trial by jury system became official throughout the country. The Constitutional Court, in February 2000, had ruled that no court could sentence a person to death until this system was introduced in Russia. Under Russia's new Criminal Procedure Code - which entered into force on July 1, 2002 - the jury determines guilt or innocence and the judge decides the sentence. The moratorium effectively means that a life sentence is the maximum sentence possible.

NB: Hands Off Cain defines moratorium as a suspension of executions imposed by executive or legislative authorities.