site.btaJustice Minister, Eurojust President Discuss Cooperation in Investigating War Crimes in Ukraine

Justice Minister Atanas Slavov on Thursday discussed the investigation of war crimes in Ukraine with Ladislav Hamran, President of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), his Ministry said. 

Slavov and Hamran met in The Hague, where the Ljubljana-Hague Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes and Other International Crimes was signed on Wednesday. Talks were dominated by the possibilities for cooperation in the investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the context of the war in Ukraine. Upcoming legislative changes to the Criminal Code and the introduction of the crime of aggression were presented by Slavov.

The possibility of Bulgaria joining the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA), as well as the Joint Investigation Teams (JIT), which actively collect, analyse data and investigate crimes during the war in Ukraine, was discussed. 

Hamran briefed Slavov on the progress made on the accumulation of data from different European countries on war crimes and the experience in collecting usable evidence to be used in trials. The two agreed on a more active exchange of experience between the Bulgarian authorities and Eurojust in order to achieve more effective investigations and indictments.

Justice Minister Slavov briefed Hamran on the development of the judicial reform and the adopted amendments to the Constitution, as well as on the next steps - the adoption of a new Judicial System Law and the election of the members of the Supreme Judicial Council and the Supreme Prosecutorial Council, as well as the legislative initiatives on money laundering, the fight against international terrorism, etc.

Slavov also met with Biserka Stoyanova, Bulgaria's national member of Eurojust, with whom they discussed the possibilities for better communication and coordination between the institutions on international criminal cooperation. Justice Minister Slavov is on a visit to The Hague, where on behalf of Bulgaria he signed the Convention on International Cooperation in the Prosecution of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity. More than 35 countries from all over the world signed the document, including Austria, the Netherlands, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Poland, Slovenia, Ireland, Italy, Congo, Rwanda, Argentina, Mongolia and others.