MOSCOW, June 19 (RAPSI) – The Russian Ministry of Justice has prepared a bill envisaging a wider use of the jury trial institution, the document published on its official website reads on Monday.

The bill introduces changes to the Criminal Procedural Code of Russia aimed to implement the decisions of the Constitutional Court regarding the cases in the framework of which the most severe punishments would not envisage a life imprisonment or death penalty.

Under the current law, women as well as men over age of 65 cannot be sentenced to exceptional measure of punishment and therefore their cases can’t be reviewed by a jury trial. The Court found that provision to contradict the Constitution and ruled to lift the restriction in order to ensure equal access to justice.