site.btaSocialists Discuss Their Counter-Corruption Bill with Supreme Administrative Court Judges

Sofia, August 30 (BTA) - Representatives of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Wednesday discussed their Counter-Corruption Bill with judges of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) at a meeting in Parliament.

Both the Bulgarian Judges Association and the SAC recommended that the bill lay down a procedure by which the President appoints the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Agency. "We have already accepted this remark," BSP leader Kornelia Ninova told journalists.

She added that the Agency's investigating functions are not contrary to the Constitution, either, but the SAC recommended that the bill should state expressly that investigation will follow the methods provided for in the Criminal Procedure Code.

"They recommended that the bill should specify whether the chairman of the Agency may request the deployment of special surveillance means," the BSP leader said further. "The Bulgarian law expressly lists the authorities that are empowered to do so, and the chairman of the Agency is not included among them because such an Agency never existed before," she explained.

Another recommendation by the SAC is to remove MEPs from the list of persons that can be investigated by the new body because as from their election they become part of a EU institution and are not subject to the jurisdiction of such Bulgarian authority. "This is something we have overlooked and will correct it," Ninova admitted.

The judges further recommended a very rigorous procedure for the storage and destruction of the information gathered by investigating agents, so as to prevent its abuse, she added.

SAC President Georgi Kolev told journalists that his Court will send some further remarks on the bill in writing. He does not rule an option in which the President appoints the chairman of the new Agency.

"The other matter I raised was about the functions of the new Agency: investigating or information gathering," he commented. In his opinion, investigating functions are possible but will require a political decision.

The Socialist leader said that the bill will be discussed with the President on Friday and the draft legislation will be conclusively considered and approved at a meeting of the BSP National Council on Saturday.