STATUS, FUNCTIONS AND POWERS OF THE PROSECUTOR GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA

1. The Prosecutor General shall be appointed for a period of seven years and removed by the President of the Republic upon proposal from the Supreme Judicial Council, and shall not be eligible for a second term in office (Article 129, par. 2 of the Constitution).

2. No less than one fifth of the Supreme Judicial Council members and the Minister of Justice shall propose candidates for election as Prosecutor General (Article 173, par. 2 of the Judicial Power Act (JPA).

3. The Prosecutor General shall be an ex officio member of the Supreme Judicial Council (Article 130, par. 1 of the Constitution).

4. In the discharge of his powers the Prosecutor General shall be assisted by an administration (Article 340 of the JPA).

1. The Prosecutor General shall oversee the legality and provide methodological guidance to all other prosecutors (Article 126, par. 2 of the Constitution).

2. The Prosecutor General shall manage the Prosecution assisted by his deputies at the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Supreme Administrative Public Prosecutor’s Office (Article 138, item 1 and Article 139, par. 1 of the JPA).

3. The Prosecutor General shall issue instructions and shall give directions regarding the activity of the prosecution (Article 138 item 4 of the JPA).

4. The Prosecutor General shall allot and organise the work of his deputies (Article 139, par.1 of the JPA).

5. The Prosecutor General shall submit to the Supreme Judicial Council a report on the observance of the law and the activities of the Prosecution and the investigation authorities by March 31 every year (Article 141, par. 1 of the JPA).

 III. POWERS

CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA

1. The Prosecutor General shall oversee the legality and provide methodological guidance to all other prosecutors (Article 121, paR. 2)

2. The Constitutional Court shall act on initiative from the Prosecutor General (Article 150, par. 1)

1. The Prosecutor General shall have the right to assign his powers to his deputies at the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Supreme Administrative Public Prosecutor’s Office, unless the law prescribes otherwise (Article 139, par. 1 of the JPA).

2. The Prosecutor General shall carry out inspections and shall supervise the work of all prosecutors (Article 142, par. 1 of the JPA).

3. The Prosecutor General shall submit motions to the Supreme Cassation Court and the Supreme Administrative Court for judgments and Rulings on interpretation (Article 125 of the JPA).

4. The Prosecutor General or his deputy shall have the right to attend the General Assembly of the Supreme Cassation Court and the Supreme Administrative Court when taking judgments and Rulings on interpretation (Article 129, par. 1, item 1 of the JPA).

5. The Prosecutor General shall make proposals to the Committee of Proposals and Attestation of judges, prosecutors and examining magistrates at the Supreme Judicial Council related to the exercising of his powers (Article 38, par. 3 of the JPA).

6. The Prosecutor General shall forward request to the Supreme Judicial Council to take decision on temporary suspension from office of a judge, prosecutor or examining magistrate in cases prescribed by the law (Article 230, par. 2 of the JPA).

7. Upon request of the Supreme Judicial Council, the Prosecutor General shall give opinion on issues under consideration by the Supreme Judicial Council (Article 30, par. 1 and par. 2 of the JPA).

8. The Prosecutor General shall designate his representatives in the Inter-agency Council on the Methodological Supervision of the United Information System for counteracting crime (Article 383, par. 2 of the JPA).

9. The Prosecutor General shall submit to the Supreme Judicial Council a summarized report on the application of the law and the activities of the Prosecution and the investigation authorities no later than 30 April each year (Article 141 of the JPA).

10. The Prosecutor General, in compliance with the Statistics Act, shall produce for publication statistical data to the National Statistical Institute (Article 377 of the JPA).

 CRIMINAL CODE OF PROCEDURE

1. The Prosecutor General of the Republic of Bulgaria shall exercise supervision for legality of and provide methodological guidance for the activities of all prosecutors (Article 46, par. 4 of the Criminal Code of Procedure)

2. Upon authorisation of the Prosecutor General, pre-trial proceedings may also be carried out in another area with a view to more comprehensive investigation of the offence (Article 195, par. 4 of the Criminal Code of Procedure).

3. In exceptional cases the Prosecutor General may extended the investigation time limit (Article 243, par. 3, clause 2 of the Criminal Code of Procedure).

4. The transfer of individuals sentenced by a court of the Republic of Bulgaria to serve their punishment to the state of which they are the nationals, and the transfer of Bulgarian citizens sentenced by a foreign court for the purpose of serving their punishment to the Republic of Bulgaria shall be decided by the Prosecutor General in an agreement with the competent authority of the other state, where consent in writing of the sentenced individual is available.

5. The place, time and procedure for surrender and admission of the convicted person shall be determined by agreement between the Prosecutor General and the competent authority of the other state.

6. Where information is available that an individual sentenced by a Bulgarian court is staying on the territory of the state whose national he or she is, the Prosecutor General may extend a request to the foreign country’s authorities to detain the said individual, in respect of whom a request shall be made to take over the enforcement of his or her sentence, notifying that a sentence for such individual has come into effect.

7. The Prosecutor General shall forward a proposal to the Sofia City Court to resolve the issues relevant to the execution of a sentence of a foreign court, upon arrival of the sentenced person to the Republic of Bulgaria or establishing that the sentenced person is found on its territory (Article 757, par. 1 of the Criminal Code of Procedure)

8. The Prosecutor General shall submit to the Sofia City Court motion to execute judgement of a foreign court to modify the sentence, pronounced by the court of another state following the transfer of the sentenced person (Article 458, par. 1 of the Criminal Code of Procedure).

9. The judgement for the revocation of a sentence, issued by the court of another state after the transfer of the sentenced individual, shall immediately be enforced at the orders of the Prosecutor General (Article 458, par. 2 of the Criminal Code of Procedure)

10. Where the sentence of the foreign court has been revoked and a new investigation or trial of the case has been ruled, the issue of institution of criminal proceedings against the person surrendered to serve his/her punishment, shall be decided by the General Prosecutor in compliance with the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria.

11. In the event of amnesty in the state, in which the sentence, admitted for execution, was pronopunced, service of the punishment shall be terminated immediately by order of the Prosecutor General (Article 460, par. 2 of the Criminal Code of Procedure)

12. In the event of amnesty in the Republic of Bulgaria, the Prosecutor General shall notify immediately the competent authority of the state, to which the individual has been transferred for serving the punishment.

13. The Prosecutor General may submit proposal to the Supreme Court of Cassation to reopen criminal case under the provisions of Article 422, par. 1, items 4-6 of the Criminal Code of Procedure, where by judgment of the European Court of Human rights a violation of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms has been established, which has considerable importance for the case; and where in reference to sentences, judgments and court rulings, not reviewed in the way of cassation, substantial violations have been made under Article 348, par. 1, items 1 -3 of the Criminal Code of Procedure; and where extradition has been allowed in a case of sentencing in absentia where a guarantee has been provided by the Bulgarian state for reopening the criminal case in respect of the offence, in reference to which extradition has been allowed (Article 422, par. 1, assumption 2 of the Criminal Code of Procedure)

EXTRADITION ACT AND THE EUROPEAN ARREST WARRANT

Upon review pursuant to Article 10, the Minister of Justice shall forward immediately any request for extradition and the attached documents thereto or any request for temporary detention to the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Where there are a great number of requests for extradition, the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office shall coordinate the order of processing with the Ministry of Justice (Article 12).

In urgent cases the competent authorities of the requesting state may ask the Ministry of Justice or the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office to detain temporary the person in question before sending a request for extradition.

Where the request for temporary detainment has been made by a state with which the Republic of Bulgaria has no Agreement for Extradition, the Minister of Justice shall notify the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office of the availability of reciprocity.

Upon establishing the whereabouts of the person in question on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and his identity, the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office shall detain him/her for a period of 72 hours and shall forward the request for provisional detainment and all documents thereto to the District Prosecutor in whose region the person in question has been found to stay.

Within the term of Article 5, the District Prosecutor shall appoint defense counsel and interpreter for the person in question, if the latter does not speak Bulgarian and shall file request in the respective district court for his/her provisional detainment.

The judgment pursuant to Article 7 may be appealed before the respective appellate court within three days of its pronouncement.

The Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office shall inform without delay the Minister of Justice and the requesting state of the measure taken.

The Prosecutor shall revoke the measure of provisional detainment where the Republic of Bulgaria received no request for extradition and the documentation thereto pursuant to Article 9, par. 3 within the period of provisional detainment set by the court (Article 13).

Upon receiving the request pursuant to Article 9, the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office shall open file on the case. When a number of requests are received they shall be put together in one file.

The Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office shall detain the person in question for a term of 72 hours, inclusive of cases when the period of provisional detainment set by the court in the way of Article 13, par. 7 has expired or another measure has been taken to ensure the participation of the person in the extradition proceedings.

The file accompanied by mandatory instructions shall be forwarded to the respective District Prosecutor in whose region the requested person has been found.

The District Prosecutor within the tern pursuant to Article 2 shall:

1. appoint defense counsel to the requested person if he/she does not have such and interpreter if he/she does not speak Bulgarian;

2. let the persons and his/her defense counsel get acquainted with all documents in the file and take written explanations from the person;

3. let the person get acquainted with his/her right to announce consent before the court for his/her immediate extradition;

4. submit request before the respective District Court to assign the measure remanding under custody of the person in question until the completion of the extradition proceedings;

5. submit the file for consideration before the respective district court (Article 14).

In the cases pursuant to Article 14, par. 4 item 4, the District Court shall consider immediately the request to take the measure of remanding under custody in the way of Article 64, par. 3 and 5 of the Criminal Code of Procedure.

The appearance of the person in question shall be ensured by the Prosecutor. The participation of defense counsel and interpreter in the court hearing is mandatory.

The judgment of the District Court may be appealed and objected to within three days before the respective Appellate Court (Article 15).

The judgment of the District Court shall be subject to review by the Appellate Court in response to a complaint by the person in question and his/her defense counsel within 7 days of its announcement.

A certified copy of the judgment of the Appellate Court shall be sent within 24 hours to the Minister of Justice in order to notify the requesting state and the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office, which shall issue Ruling to execute the extradition (Article 20).

Where an extradition has been granted the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office in cooperation with the National Central Bureau of Interpol shall make arrangements with the requesting state on the date and place of the person’s surrender.

The surrender of the person shall be made in execution of a Ruling of the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office and the authorities of the Ministry of the Interior shall provide guard and escort of the person under extradition (Article 26).

Within the terms of Article 42, par. 2, the Prosecutor shall submit request to the respective court to take measure to assure appearance - remanding under custody of the person claimed (Article 43).

The European Arrest Warrant shall be considered in an open court hearing by a panel of three judges with the participation of a Prosecutor.

During the court hearing, the Court shall hear statements of the Prosecutor, the person claimed and his/her defense counsel (Article 44).

A certified copy of the decision for execution of a European Arrest Warrant, which has come into force, shall be sent immediately to the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office to issue Ruling on the execution of the decision (Article 53).

Where for reasons beyond the control of the member states, the surrender of the person within the term of Article 1 has been prevented, the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office, the National Central Bureau of Interpol and the issuing authority shall agree immediately on a new date of surrender. In this case the surrender shall be made not later than 10 days of the new date thus agreed.

The surrender may me temporarily postponed by the District Judge on substantial grounds that it may endanger the life or health of the person claimed. The European Arrest Warrant shall be executed immediately after the grounds have ceased to exist. In that case, the surrender shall take place within 10 days of the new date thus agreed. (Article 54).

In the Republic of Bulgaria the European Arrest Warrant shall be issued by:

1. the respective Prosecutor – pertaining to defendant or sentenced person with th sentence that has come into force;

2. the respective Court – pertaining to defendant (Article 56)

 
ADMINISTRATIVE CODE OF PROCEDURE

1. The Prosecutor General or his deputy at the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office may lodge cassation objection (Article 210, par. 3)

2. The Prosecutor General or his deputy at the Supreme Cassation Public Prosecutor’s Office may request revoke of judicial acts, which have come into force on the grounds and within the term determined for the Parties (Article 238, par. 2).

 LAWYERS ACT

The Prosecutor General shall participate in open session of the Supreme Cassation Court in a panel under the chairmanship of the Chairman of the Court, scheduled to consider a complaint whereby the legality of the election of a member of the Supreme Lawyer Council is disputed (Article 114).

BULGARIAN CITIZENSHIP ACT

The proposal to revoke naturalization or to deprive of citizenship shall be submitted by the Prosecutor General (Article 31, par. 1).

INFORMATION ON THE NON-SERVICED CREDITS ACT

Within six months of the publication of the special bulletin, issued by the Bulgarian National Bank on non-serviced credits, the Prosecutor General shall present information to the Supreme Judicial Council on the results of the inspections made in reference to the cases published. (Article 4).

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ACT

The immunity of the judges of the Constitutional Court shall be suspended in order to initiate criminal prosecution where there is sufficient evidence of a serious premeditated crime committed, presented to the Constitutional Court by the Prosecutor General (Article 9, par. 2).

NORMATIVE ACTS ACT

Within the competences ensuing from the Constitution, the Prosecutor General shall lodge objection aimed at revoking a normative act or any provisions thereof where they are in contradiction with a normative act of higher level (Article 16, par. 12)

MEASURES AGAINST FINANCING OF TERRORISM ACT

On proposal by the Minister of the Interior or the Prosecutor General, the Council of Ministers in a decision shall adopt, amend or modify the list of natural persons, legal entities, groups and organizations, subject to the application of the measures under this Act. (Article 5, par. 1)

When the grounds to include any person into the list pursuant to par. 1 cease to exist, the Minister of the Interior or the Prosecutor General, on their initiative or on the request of the interested person, shall submit to the Council of Ministers proposal to cancel the person in question from the list within 14 days of the coming to knowledge that the grounds have ceased to exist (Article 5, par. 6).

The examining magistrates and the prosecutors inform forthwith the Prosecutor General of any initiation by them of criminal proceedings related to terrorism, funding of terrorism, formation, management of membership in an organized group, which sets as a goal committing terrorist acts or funding terrorism, preparation to commit terrorism, open abetment to commit terrorism or threat to commit terrorism in the meaning of the Criminal Code (Article 5, par. 8).

THE SPECIAL SURVEILLANCE MEANS ACT

The Prosecutor General shall have the right to request use of special surveillance means and to use the evidence and the material evidence collected thereby in accordance with his competence (Article 13, par. 1, item 5).

THE COMBATING OF TRAFFIC IN HUMAN BEINGS ACT

The Prosecutor General shall nominate his deputy to participate in the composition of the National Committee for combating traffic in human beings at the Council of Ministers with the task to ensure interaction and coordination among the state and municipal authorities, and among these and the non-government organizations to prevent and combat traffic in human beings and with the task to contribute to the formation of a national policy in this area (Article 4, par. 3).

THE RADIO AND TELEVISION ACT

The Prosecutor General shall have the right to address the community on the Bulgarian national Radio and The Bulgarian National Television.