MOSCOW, February 14 - RAPSI. The practice of plea bargains, mediation, protecting judges from pressure and controlling their expenses should be expanded under judiciary reforms, experts say.

The opinion was voiced by Mikhail Barschevsky, the government's representative in supreme judicial bodies, and Anatoly Torkunov, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

They said the measures will expand the practice of jury trials upon the defendants request.

Additionally, they suggest adopting the extraterritoriality principle for grave crimes.

Barschevsky and Torkuniv propose controlling judges' expenses to combat corruption in the judicial system.

They also hold that an internal security service needs to be established to protect judges from third-party pressure, including officials.

The experts assert that judges should be permitted to elect the presiding judge. This would relieve him of the need to adopt himself to the power structure. By doing so, the presiding judge would only need to duly take into account the law and the opinions of his colleagues The experts said these steps will raise the public's confidence in the judiciary system.