site.btaNew Leadership of Private Enforcement Agents Chamber Prioritizes Maximum Control over its Members

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New Leadership of Private Enforcement
Agents Chamber Prioritizes
Maximum Control over its Members


Razlog, Southwestern Bulgaria, April 25 (BTA) - A key priority
of the new leadership of the Chamber of Private Enforcement
Agents (CPEA) is to exercise maximum control over its members,
newly elected CPEA Chairman Georgi Dichev told journalists
Saturday.

There are 164 offices of private enforcement agents (PEAs) in
Bulgaria with over 2,000 employees. New 44 jurists who have
successfully passed the latest PEA exam will assume their
positions once the Justice Minister's order enters into force.

In 2014, the CPEA's Disciplinary Committee launched 75
disciplinary proceedings against private enforcement agents,
while this number stood at 30 in 2013 and at 16 in 2012. The
total number of proceedings initiated in the 2006-2014 period
stands at 204, part of these are pending at the Disciplinary
Committee and the Supreme Court of Cassation.

Dichev said that his profession remains among the most
controlled ones because, apart from the Justice Minister, checks
are conducted by inspectors based on a finance control
ordinance. Complaints against PEAs can also be lodged at
regional courts, the Interior Ministry and the prosecuting
magistracy. The Commission for Protection of Personal Data and
the State Agency for National Security also conduct regular
checks, he explained.

This year the CPEA is planning two rounds of checks in all
offices of private enforcement agents in Bulgaria so as to get
acquainted with the problems in this profession. Work is also
underway on a new disciplinary code. "We want to clean the
profession from people who do not observe the rules," Dichev
said.

"We are considering proposals for editing of the Civil Procedure
Code," he went on to say. The ideas have already been presented
to the Justice Ministry and MPs from the parliamentary Legal
Affairs Committee. The main goal is to create a guarantee for
the takings which cannot be sequestrated, such as social
assistance, child benefits and disability pensions. The
electronization of the executive process through the
introduction of electronic distrains and auctions, which will
reduce considerably the fees and sums due, is also among the
proposed amendments, Dichev said.

In 2014, PEAs collected debts amounting to 1,020,000,000 leva,
compared to 1,135,000,000 leva in 2013. Last year, the downward
trend in enforcement cases from 2013 continued: there were
178,000 cases, of which 86,000 concluded successfully. Although
the majority of the cases continue to be launched by the
business community - 55 per cent, last year marked a change in
the trends.