Bulgaria’s Chief Prosecutor: Closing the specialised court and prosecutor's office may hinder our commitments to the European Prosecutor’s Office

Bulgaria’s Prosecutor General, Ivan Geshev, on October 15 participated in the 15th Annual Consultative Forum of the Prosecutors General of the European Union, which is being held in The Hague, the Netherlands. The event is organised by Eurojust and is chaired by the Prosecutor General of Slovenia - Drago Šketa, the Attorney General of Croatia - Zlata Šipek, and the Federal Prosecutor General of Germany - Peter Frank. The forum is attended by the heads of Prosecutors' offices of the EU member states and the national representatives of the countries in Eurojust.

During his speech at the session dedicated to the protection of the independence of the prosecutor's offices in the EU, Ivan Geshev expressed the concerns of the Bulgarian Prosecutor's office that if the specialised prosecutor’s offices and courts in Bulgaria are closed, this will lead to serious difficulties in fulfilling the commitments of Bulgaria to the European Prosecutor's Office and Eurojust.

“Affecting the independence of the prosecution is a real obstacle to efforts to combat crime at European level," said Bulgaria’s Prosecutor General, Ivan Geshev, in a speech to the Consultative Forum of the Prosecutors General of the EU member states.

The annual meeting of EU prosecutors is on the topic of digitalisation of justice and the impact on the criminal investigation in the EU. The participants in the forum were acquainted with the Strategy for Digitalization of Justice of the European Commission, the challenges for its implementation at the national level and the opportunities for strengthening the interaction and exchange of experience between the countries.

Another main focus of the forum was the start of the work of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). In this regard, the European Chief Prosecutor, Laura Kövesi, and her team informed the participants about the EPPO activities during the first months of its operation.

Within the Consultative Forum, Prosecutor General, Ivan Geshev, also held working meetings in which issues of mutual interest, the independence of the prosecutor's office and the development of the Consultative Forum were discussed aimed at strengthening the rule of law in EU member states.