Between 1991 and 2001, according to the Ministry of Justice, 281 people were executed on charges of homicide, sexual offenses, robbery, kidnapping and drug trafficking. There has been criticism that capital punishment is imposed for non-homicide offenses. The fact that the death penalty is mandatory for as many as 65 different offences is criticized as well.
Of the 281 executions in the past 10 years, 137 were carried out under the Act for the Control and Punishment of Banditry, generally known as the "bandit law."
Created in 1944, the bandit law is notorious for applying a mandatory death sentence for a wide range of crimes. In 1999, it was discovered the act, to which a so-called "sunset clause" had been attached, was extended under questionable procedure. In the wake of disputes over the validity of the act, the Ministry of Justice decided to abolish it, and the revocation of the act is now pending a review by the legislature.
However, a mandatory death sentence remains in other statutes other than the bandit law, which continues to restrict the judges' option in sentencing. The Council of Grand Justices has held that a mandatory death sentence is constitutional in its three interpretations between 1985 and 1998 despite the challenge that it violates the right to life and the principle of proportionality.
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