Bulgaria’s government proposes special prosecutor to investigate Prosecutor General

The government proposes a special ad-hoc prosecutor to have powers to investigate crimes allegedly committed by the Prosecutor General. The proposal is included in draft changes to the Criminal Procedure Code and the Judicial System Act, tabled by MPs from the ruling coalition of GERB and the United Patriots on December 3.

This year, both the European Commission and the Venice Commission recommended the introduction of a mechanism for criminal investigation against the Prosecutor General.

This is the second attempt this year to set up a mechanism for investigation of crimes allegedly committed by the Prosecutor General.

The first proposal was that the criminal investigation is conducted by the head of the Inspectorate in the Supreme Prosecutor's Office, to be elected by the Prosecutors’ College of the Supreme Judicial Council. This option was accepted with scepticism by both experts and the Venice Commission, with the main remark being the possibility of dependence on the Prosecutor General.

The Constitutional Court, meanwhile, has issued an interpretative ruling which says that any prosecutor can investigate the Prosecutor General. According to the constitutional judges, at the time an investigation is launched, the prosecutor becomes completely independent and his/her acts cannot be controlled by the Prosecutor General. This is how today's ruling of the government came about.

The ruling party's proposal is that the prosecutor who will have the powers to investigate the Prosecutor General should have at least 12 years of experience as magistrate – i.e. to meet the requirements for a prosecutor in the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's Office or a judge in the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court. In addition, he/she should have the status of irremovability, his/her latest assessment grade should be "Very good" and no disciplinary sanctions have been imposed on him/her in the past five years.

Desislava Atanasova, GERB MP: At least six members of the Prosecutors’ College of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) will have the right to nominate a prosecutor who will investigate the Prosecutor General. And the very election of the prosecutor with powers to investigate the Prosecutor General will be made by the Plenum of the SJC.

The Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council will elect the candidate by a simple majority, so there is no risk of one of the colleges blocking the election. The acts of the prosecutor who will investigate the chief prosecutor will be subject only to judicial review.

Krassimir Tsipov, Deputy Chairman of the GERB Parliamentary Group: Cases for crimes committed by the Prosecutor General will be subject to the Specialised Criminal Court.

In addition, the prosecutor who will investigate the Prosecutor General will not be subordinated to the Prosecutor General and the Prosecutor General will not have methodological guidance over him/her.

Krassimir Tsipov, Deputy Chairman of GERB'sParliamentary Group: In this way we believe that we will respond to all the recommendations we received this year from both the EC and the Venice Commission. In the coming days, we will send this draft law for the opinion of the Venice Commission, and the request will be to rule within a reasonable, but short deadlines. The idea is that the draft will be adopted as soon as we receive the opinion.

If the law is passed, candidates for the position of a prosecutor with powers to investigate the Prosecutor General will have to be nominated within one month, and the Supreme Judicial Council will have to elect one of the candidates within 3 months.

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