site.btaAmendments to Civil Procedure Code on Prosecutor's Powers Adopted on First Reading

Amendments to Civil Procedure Code on Prosecutor's Powers Adopted on First Reading

Sofia, April 3 (BTA) - Parliament voted 119-15, with 17
abstentions, to adopt in principle amendments to the Code of
Civil Procedure on the powers of the prosecuting magistracy.
Those in favour were 67 MPs of GERB, 12 of BSP-Left Bulgaria, 14
 of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), 12 of the
Patriotic Front, eight of the Bulgarian Democratic Centre (BDC),
 and five of Ataka. Those against were three MPs of BSP-Left
Bulgaria, 10 of the Reformist Bloc and one of Ataka.

The bill of amendments was introduced by Tsvetan Tsvetanov
(GERB), Valeri Simeonov (Patriotic Front), Chetin Kazak (MRF),
Krassimira Kovachka and Stefan Kenov (BDC). The Legal Affairs
Committee argued that the bill empowers prosecutors to put
forward claims and be a party to civil proceedings defending the
 interest of the State, municipalities or individuals entitled
to the special protection of the law.

During the debate the MPs of the Reformist Bloc said they would
vote against, objecting to the introduction of the amendments
"without a debate". The Bloc's co-floor leader Radan Kanev said
it was "unacceptable to adopt hasty amendments to the Code of
Civil Procedure or the Code of Criminal Procedure because they
would affect an indefinite number of cases with unpredictable
consequences".

Kanev argued that the prosecuting magistrates have no capacity
for involvement in all civil lawsuits in which some public
interest is affected in the abstract. "The prosecuting
magistrates did a very bad job when they had to appear in all
administrative cases. There were those prosecutors who had read
nothing about the case, they would mumble and no one would
listen to them," he said. If the amendments pass, they will lead
 to new appointments of prosecutors, increased spending and a
sharp drop in quality. "Instead of reforming the prosecuting
magistracy, which is badly needed, instead of helping
prosecutors to perform their functions, we throw a huge range of
 functions at them for which they have neither the capacity nor
the integrity," Kanev said.

Peter Slavov (Reformist Bloc) asked how the proposed changes
would help to solve the Corpbank case and recover the money. He
suggested that broader powers should be given to the finance
minister, not to the prosecutors. The Reformist Bloc called on
the Prosecutor General to state his position but he did not go
to the plenary.

Yavor Notev (Ataka) said the bill was fraught with legal
technical flaws and was not ready for plenary debate. He
recalled that Ataka had proposed precisely such revisions about
the prosecuting magistracy in recent years but different
majorities in Parliament had defeated them.

Speaking on behalf of BSP-Left Bulgaria, Yanaki Stoilov said his
 group backed the changes which restore the powers of the
prosecuting magistrates in cases when the state interest is at
risk. These powers were taken from them in 1997 just before the
start of privatization which caused serious economic detriment.

MRF's Chetin Kazak said that the Movement supports the bill
because the state interest needs to be protected. "We've seen
countless examples where other state institutions failed to
protect the state interest, in particular with privatization,"
Kazak said. According to him, the bill is not dictated by
circumstances and the case with Corporate Commercial Bank.

The Patriotic Front said it supported the amendments but they
needed to be carefully edited.

GERB's Daniel Kirilov, head of the parliamentary Legal Affairs
Committee, said that the amendments will be revised between the
first and second reading.

The deadline for proposals between the two readings was reduced
to three days because of the Easter recess of Parliament.

GERB floor leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that amendments
sponsored to the Code of Criminal Procedure were withdrawn on
Friday following consultations with the other sponsors, as their
 aim could be achieved by amending the Code of Civil Procedure.

The withdrawn draft revisions enabled the Prosecutor General or
a designated deputy to block financial operations and property
transactions for 48 hours under extraordinary circumstances.

The changes were sponsored by Tsvetanov, Patriotic Front floor
leader Valeri Simeonov, MRF's Chetin Kazak, Krassimira Kovachka
and Stefan Kenov of the BDC.