MOSCOW, May 23 (RAPSI) - The number of applications from foreigners willing to adopt children which were ruled upon by Russian courts in 2012 is 21% lower than in 2011, according to the Russian Supreme Court statistics.

A review of judicial practice indicates that regional courts delivered a judgment in 3,079 international adoption cases, including 3,069 positive rulings. Only 2,426 cases were heard in 2012, with 2,410 positive verdicts.

The judicial practice review states that there were 14,380 child adoption applications from Russian nationals, of which 122 were rejected.

In January 2013, Moscow banned Americans from adopting Russian children as part of legislation passed shortly after Washington passed the Magnitsky Act, which introduced sanctions against Russian officials suspected of human rights abuses.

President Vladimir Putin's representative said the Magnitsky Act had triggered the adoption ban. But Russian officials also cite the deaths of at least 20 Russian adopted children in the United States during the past two decades as a driving factor in Moscow's push for the ban.