MOSCOW, October 30 (RAPSI) – The number of people held in Russia’s penitentiary facilities has reduced more than twofold in the past 20 years, according to Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Lebedev.

As of October 1, 2020, there are 491,600 detainees and prisoners in Russia. In January 1999, their number reached 1.6 million persons, Lebedev said at the XV Conference of Supreme Courts’ Chairmen of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) member states on Friday.

Lebedev also told other participants about juvenile delinquency in Russia. According to the Supreme Court’s head, the number of detained minors has decreased nearly sevenfold in the last 10 years; the minor convict rate has decreased threefold during the same period.

The Fifteenth Conference of Supreme Courts’ Chairmen of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) member states takes place in Moscow through videolink.

Chairman of the Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev participates in the meeting and is to speak about Russia’s experience of the judicial system’s adaptation to work amid the coronavirus pandemic and humanization of criminal legislation and its practical application.

Representatives of India, Kazakhstan, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan take part in the event.