Bulgaria's Council of Ministries (government) has approved Wednesday the draft of the new Penal Code.

The new Penal Code reproduces numerous provisions that are classic for criminal law and in particular for the Bulgarian tradition in this type of legislation.

The experience of Bulgarian legislation from 1896 to the present day, as well as the achievements of the Bulgarian criminal law doctrine throughout this period, have been used in the creation of the Code, says the Justice Ministry in a statement.

This old Penal Code is in force since the distant 1968 and has been amended almost 100 times.

The preparation of the new Code took more than three years and involved leading law professors, supreme judges, prosecutors and NGOs.

The adopted draft proposes a system of penalties substantially altered, compared to that of the Code from 1968. It includes seven types of penalties: imprisonment, probation, confiscation of assets, fine, reprimand, and life imprisonment.

Imprisonment remains the main among these penalties while life imprisonment without parole is removed from the Code, because it is perceived as a too inhumane punishment due to lack of any prospect for those sentenced to it.

With the adoption of the new draft Penal Code by the government, the debate on its discussion entered into its main stage.