site.btaProsecutor General: Parliamentary Hearing on Police Violence Would Violate Division of Powers

August 16 (BTA) - There is an established practice of the
 Constitutional Court that precludes question time for the work
of concrete magistrates and still pending cases, Prosecutor
General Ivan Geshev told BTA Monday, commenting an extraordinary
 sitting of the National Assembly scheduled to be held on
Tuesday. Geshev's comment comes after MP Nikolai Hadjigenov of
Stand Up! Here We Come! and MP Hristo Ivanov of Democratic
Bulgaria both expressed an intention to question the Prosecutor
General after shocking footage of police brutality during last
year's anti-establishment protests was shown in Parliament.
 
On Saturday National Assembly Chair Iva Miteva said she convenes
 an extraordinary parliamentary sitting from 10 am on August 17
to hear the Interior Minister about the action undertaken to
establish the persons who have overstepped their authority, the
sanctions meted and the measures taken to avoid such occurrences
 happening in the future.

A request for hearing the Prosecutor General at an extraordinary
 sitting, or a request for a report on concrete cases would
constitute a violation of the principle of the division of
powers and encroachment in the inviolability of judicial power,
Geshev said on Monday.
 
But even if that were not so, there is no way the Prosecutor
General could give information on concrete cases, for he cannot
know it or have it at his disposal by law. That would be a
violation of the Constitution and the laws of the country,
Geshev pointed out.
 
Geshev added that he respects the work of the National Assembly
as the supreme authority in a parliamentary republic such as
Bulgaria, stating that he expected to see what information the
members of Parliament would require from the prosecution office.
    
The request for a hearing of the Prosecutor General regarding
the concrete case had to be considered also from the point of
view of observance of the fundamental principles of the European
 Union and particularly the rule of law, he added.
 
"According to the Constitution, I have neither the right, nor
the obligation to control concrete cases, even less so the
decisions of concrete magistrates. What is more, that would
constitute a violation of Bulgarian legislation and fundamental
constitutional principles on my part," Geshev said./RY/BR

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