Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee supported the proposal for a dedicated prosecutor to investigate any alleged crimes by Prosecutor General

The government's proposal for a special prosecutor to investigate alleged crimes committed by the Prosecutor General was approved by the Legal Affairs Committee in Parliament on December 16.

The Prosecutor's office gave a negative opinion, arguing that even now any prosecutor can investigate the chief prosecutor. The opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) also criticized the draft and abstained.

The ruling coalition propose that in case of a signal for a crime allegedly committed by the Prosecutor General, it be checked and investigated by a special prosecutor who has at least 12 years of experience, has not been disciplined in the past five years and is elected by a simple majority of the Supreme Judicial Council.

Desislava Atanasova, GERB MP, Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs: The only possible option for ensuring an independent investigation against the Prosecutor General is by creating the position of a prosecutor competent in files and criminal proceedings.

According to the Prosecutor’s office, the creation of a position of a special prosecutor is unnecessary.

Krassimira Filipova, Deputy Prosecutor General: At present, there is no legal obstacle to conducting an investigation against the Prosecutor General. In no way does the Prosecutor General have a mechanism for procedural influence over prosecutors working on such cases.

The BSP is also against the ruling party's proposal.

Krum Zarkov, MP from BSP, Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs: A possibility should be envisaged for judicial control over acts that prevent initiation of proceedings against the Prosecutor General.

The left-wing BSP opposed to the candidates for the prosecutor being nominated by six members of the SJC's Prosecutors College. According to them, those who choose the Prosecutor General may in practice choose the one who will investigate him/her. GERB agreed and will extend the possibility of even self-nomination for this position. The ruling party does not agree with the negative opinion of the Prosecutor’s office.

Desislava Ahladova, Minister of Justice: The Council of Europe, the Venice Commission, the European Commission have repeatedly called on Bulgaria to introduce such an investigative mechanism.

The draft law will be presented in the plenary hall on Friday. If it receives support in the first reading it will be sent for an opinion to the Venice Commission. The ambition of the ruling party is that it will be adopted by the end of their term.