site.btaPrime Minister, Prosecutor General Discuss Draft Amendments to Civil Procedure Code

Prime Minister, Prosecutor General Discuss Draft Amendments to Civil Procedure Code

Sofia, April 6 (BTA) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov
Monday discussed the draft amendments to the Code of Civil
Procedure (CCP) with Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov when the
two conferred at the Council of Ministers, the prosecuting
magistracy said in a press release.

Tsatsarov familiarized Borissov with his observations on the
bill.

The proposed amendments reinstate prosecutorial powers that have
been restricted since April 1, 1998. Under the new provisions,
a prosecutor may initiate or intervene in proceedings under the
CCP in the interest of the State, municipalities or citizens
enjoying the special protection of the law.

"The reintroduction of such provisions cannot be assessed
positively. The point is not whether the prosecution service
possesses the requisite 'capacity and integrity' to exercise
such powers. Such arguments downgrade the effect of such a law
to the level of sheer political populism. Adding new powers in
civil procedure creates conditions for the intervention of State
bodies in relations at private law which, to put it bluntly,
may set dangerous precedents in the development of normal civil
circulation," the press release reads.

The prosecuting magistracy recalls that the effective version of
the CCP provides, that, as a rule, the State is represented by
the Minister of Finance or, in cases concerning State-owned
immovable property, by the Minister of Regional Development and
Public Works. "The particular occasion [the recent sale for 1
euro of stakes in six mostly strategic companies heavily
indebted to the delicensed Corpbank] cannot justify by itself
the proposed amendments. In criminal procedure, the prosecution
is empowered to claim measures to secure a fine, confiscation
and forfeiture of corporeal things to the Exchequer," Tsatsarov
points out in his observations. "If anybody needs broader
powers, this is not the prosecuting magistracy but the Minister
of Finance, when he protects the interests of the State,
including in civil procedure. The maximum to which prosecutorial
powers can be extended is a possibility to appeal any judicial
act affecting the property rights and legitimate interests of
the State alone," the press release states.

The Prosecutor General also commented on the proposed amendment
under which he would be competent to suspend financial
operations or transactions for a period of up to 48 hours. He
sees such legislative solution as "extremely unacceptable" and
"spelling risks to the free civil circulation and to merchants."
"It stands to reason that the Minister of Finance should be
vested with such powers in protecting the interests of the
State, and then only in exceptional cases," Tsatsarov argues.
"The Prosecutor General needs such powers under the Measures
against Financing of Terrorism Act and the Measures against
Money Laundering Act, but not in other cases," he adds.

Borissov entirely agreed with the Prosecutor General's arguments
and undertook to familiarize the GERB Parliamentary Group with
them. The Prime Minister noted that the reinstatement of
legislative solutions repealed in 1998 is debatable and another
approach should be sought, empowering the Minister of Finance as
a representative of the State subject to parliamentary
oversight.

Later in the day, Tsatsarov will also confer with employer
organizations to familiarize them with his position on the
proposed legislative amendments.