MOSCOW, February 19 - RAPSI. Proposals to develop a criminal justice policy should be discussed, as unstable legislation has a negative effect on law enforcement practice, Vyacheslav Lebedev, chairman of Russia's Supreme Court, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.

Lebedev said that over 3,000 amendments and additions had been made to the Criminal Code, and over 700 to the Code of Criminal Procedure over the past few years.

In 2012 alone, the State Duma discussed 61 bills on amending the Code of Criminal Procedure, while the Supreme Court prepared official reviews on 69 bills amending the Criminal Code, the judge said. Only 12 of these bills were supported, while 38, more than half, were rejected by the court.

"Unstable legislation is having a negative effect on law enforcement practice," Lebedev said.

He added that in addition to hearing cases concerning one million people annually, the courts adopt up to 500,000 rulings, adjusting past verdicts to the amended criminal laws. "This shows the expediency of drafting a coherent criminal justice policy," Lebedev said.