Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday he hoped the country's revised police reform bill would come into effect in April 2011.
"It [bill] will pass through the parliament in the near future and I hope it will come into effect from the beginning of the second quarter of next year," Medvedev said.
The president launched a police reform project in December 2009 following a number of high-profile police scandals, including the random shooting of several people in a supermarket by an off-duty officer.
He submitted the revised bill to the lower house of parliament on October 28 after months of public discussion on the web. The bill's enforcement date has been postponed twice.
The revised bill should both protect the rights of citizens and increase the efficiency of the police, Medvedev said.
The president has not ruled out possible further amendments to the bill.
"If necessity, we will make amendments," he said.
The amended bill, published on the www.zakonoproekt2010.ru website, names "the protection of individuals, the public and society from criminal acts" as the key mission of the Russian police, instead of "the prevention of crimes and administrative offences."
The bill gives the Russian president the opportunity to send police forces abroad to take part in international operations "to maintain or restore global peace and security."
It also states that police officers are not entitled to enter houses "against the will of people who live there," unless they are rescuing citizens and/or their property, detaining suspects, preventing crime or examining a crime scene.
GORKI, November 8 (RIA Novosti)
