Ukraine bans death penalty

KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine's parliament has abolished the death penalty to be replaced with life imprisonment sentences. The vote in parliament -- the Verkhovna Rada -- formally included the ban in the former Soviet republic's new Criminal Code for the first time. "The new regulations will improve the overall social situation in the country, which sees its future in Europe" said Yuriy Karmazin, head of the parliament committee that deals with organised crime and corruption. The new law, passed on Thursday, replaces the death penalty with life imprisonment, except for people under 18 or older than 65 who will be given lighter sentences. Punishment for mentally incapacitated criminals and pregnant women is also limited introducing new penalty methods including community service and parole. Upon joining the Council of Europe in 1995, Ukraine promised to abolish the death penalty but the government had been criticised for not implementing a ban despite a moratorium on executions in March 1997. Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruled in December that the death penalty was illegal and ordered the legislature to annul corresponding articles in the Criminal Code