There are 31 capital offenses

There are 31 capital offenses. The death penalty is not imposed on either women or minors. Art. 17 of the 1995 Armenian Constitution retains the death penalty: "Everyone has the right to life. The death penalty, until its complete abolition as an exceptional measure of punishment, can be stipulated by law solely for the most serious crimes." The President of the Republic has the power to grant pardon. Armenia was granted special guest status at the Council of Europe in January 1996 and requested membership the following May. As a condition of membership Armenia must abolish the death penalty, but the Government has not yet done so because of public opinion's strong support for capital punishment. An abolitionist bill passed its first reading in April 1997, with the second one pending. The new Criminal Code that will probably be adopted soon, replaces the death penalty with life imprisonment, in accordance with the Council of Europe's conditions. A new judicial system consisting of the Court of First Instance, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court has been introduced in Armenia since January 1, 1999. Since that date the Court of Appeal had considered 365 cases. Only one person was sentenced to death: Anoushavan Kazarian, born in 1971, for brutally murdering his uncle and his wife for mercenary purposes.