FRANCE. DEATH PENALTY SOON REMOVED FROM CONSITUTION

January 30, 2007: The French National Assembly unanimously decided to remove the death penalty from the French Consitution. ‘Noone can be sentenced to death,’ states the only article of the Consitutional Law Bill that modifies the VIII title of the Fundamental Charter. The bill was presented last week in the Council of Ministers on the request of President Jacques Chirac.
Due to Consitutional revision procedures, after the approval of the Senate (scheduled for February 7), the Parliament will vote on the final approval of the article in a joint sitting of the Assembly and the Senate. This joint sitting will probably take place on February 19. (Sources: Ansa, 20/01/2007)