site.btaProsecutor General Tsatsarov Discusses Progress on EC Latest Report's Recommendations with EC Secretary-General Catherine Day

Prosecutor General Tsatsarov Discusses Progress on EC Latest Report's Recommendations
with EC Secretary-General Catherine Day

Brussels, June 4 (BTA correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) -
Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov was received by European
Commission Secretary-General Catherine Day on Thursday. The two
discussed the implementation of the recommendations in the EC's
latest report under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism
(CVM).

Tsatsarov and Day talked about the amendments to the Criminal
Procedure Code proposed by the prosecuting magistracy and the
provisions already adopted by Parliament. The fight against
corruption and organized crime and possible legal changes to
boost these efforts were also on the agenda.

Tsatsarov told Bulgarian journalists that he strongly objected
to a proposal by the Justice Ministry's political leadership
that the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) should be a
non-permanent body with three standing committees of
magistrates. In his view, the most positive aspect of the
judicial reform strategy and the proposed bills concerning the
SJC's election is the "one judge - one vote" rule, i.e. direct
election of the Council members. This is a prerequisite for a
quality composition of the SJC, said Tsatsarov. He briefed Day
on the benefits and disadvantages of a standing SJC.

The Prosecutor General said Thursday's discussion was also about
ways to help the three institutions which are equally
responsible for fighting corruption: the prosecuting magistracy,
the Interior Ministry and the State Agency for National
Security (SANS). "We are aware that we have a long way to go,
but our efforts are appreciated," he said.

Tsatsarov criticized the delay of bills which have been, or
should be, introduced in Parliament for a certain modernization
of the Criminal Procedure Code.

"If we - professionals and the political class - do the specific
things, we could discuss the lifting of the CVM. I personally
believe that at present we would be hard put to prove that we
deserve this," he said.

Tsatsarov said the prosecuting magistracy, the Interior Ministry
and SANS should do a better job sharing their databases. He
described the prosecuting magistrates' interaction with SANS as
excellent and with the Interior Ministry as good. "There are
certain legal snags, we work with a very outdated Code," he
said.

Asked to comment on data of the European Anti-Fraud Office
(OLAF) showing that the Bulgarian prosecuting magistracy presses
charges in half of the cases where OLAF finds irregularities in
EU funds management, Tsatsarov said OLAF makes only
administrative probes and since it does not function as a
prosecution service, not all of its findings have to be brought
before a court.