site.btaJustice Minister Slavov Confers with European Delegated Prosecutor Georgieva

Bulgarian Justice Minister Atanas Slavov conferred with European Delegated Prosecutor Teodora Georgieva on Monday, the Justice Ministry reported. They discussed ways of improving European delegated prosecutors’ work efficiency.

The sides talked about the state of a building which will house the European delegated prosecutors. A year ago, the government allotted а Supreme Judicial Council’s building to the European Public Prosecutor's Office, but the delegated prosecutors still cannot move in as the repair works are yet to be completed.

Slavov and Georgieva discussed upcoming legislative changes that would synchronize Bulgarian legislation with that of the rest of the EU Member States so that conditions for a more successful investigation of cross-border crimes are created.

Among the topics discussed were future amendments to the Administrative Violations and Sanctions Act, which would broaden administrative and criminal sanctions for legal entities that have benefited from crimes. Both financial and non-financial penalties are expected to be imposed.

“The European delegated prosecutors must be given normal working conditions both in terms of their domestic needs and of legislative texts, so that the result of their work is visible. There are still a number of laws concerning the misappropriation of European funds that do not correspond to the laws and practices in other countries, and this hinders the effectiveness of crime investigations,” Slavov said after the meeting.