site.btaDeputy PM Kuneva: "Magistrates Will Not Be Checked by National Anti-Corruption Bureau"

Deputy PM Kuneva:"Magistrates Will Not Be Checked by National Anti-Corruption Bureau"

Pleven, North Central Bulgaria, April 8 (BTA) - According to the Anti-Corruption Bill that has been laid before the National Assembly, magistrates will not be checked by the National Anti-corruption and Unlawfully Acquired Assets Forfeiture Bureau, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva said here on Friday.

She specified that magistrates will be checked by their own judicial inspectorate, and the Bureau will intervene only when alerted by that inspectorate. "We made these arrangements so as to guarantee magistrates independence," she stressed. "We need more openness so as to build confidence in the judicial system," she commented.

The Deputy PM pointed out that the revised Anti-Corruption Bill that has been presented to the National Assembly keeps the provisions on civil forfeiture. "When there is a difference between what you own and what you can prove, this difference is forfeited to the Exchequer without a sentence," Kuneva explained. She argued that draft legislation is effective and is a good first step. The bill incorporates all remarks following numerous consultations and, as she put it, "it is stronger now."