The bill marks one of France's biggest social reforms since the abolition of the death penalty in 1981.

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It is true that the abolition of the death penalty is seldom the result of an upsurge of general revulsion.

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So too was the bill which ended capital punishment in Britain - the Murder (Abolition of the Death Penalty) Act 1965.

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The marriage law is seen as France's most important social reform in France since the abolition of the death penalty in 1981.

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Even the laws introducing abortion in 1974, and the abolition of the death penalty in 1981, required fewer hours of debate in parliament and proved less contentious.

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The debate in parliament is expected to last two weeks and marks one of France's biggest social reforms since the abolition of the death penalty in 1981.

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The Homicide Review Advisory Group claim the mandatory life sentence was a compromise arrived at to ensure the abolition of the death penalty made its way through both Houses of Parliament.

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Sitting in his cramped offices in southern Seoul, lawyer Lee, who heads the Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, says a growing number of South Koreans concur with the popular Western view that executing murderers does little or nothing to deter potential killers.

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The Philippines recently became one of the few countries to restore the death penalty after abolition.

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