site.btaVenice Commission Urges Bulgaria to Come up with New Proposal for Guaranteeing Independent Investigation of Chief Prosecutor

Strasbourg/Sofia, December 6 (BTA) - The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission has found that a legislative proposal by the Bulgarian government, which is expected to remedy the lack of mechanisms for independent and effective investigation of the chief prosecutor, actually makes things worse. An interim decision by the Committee of Ministers made December 5, was published on Friday.

The bill that Bulgaria proposed follows up on a European Court of Human Rights decision which established, in the Kolevs vs. Bulgaria case of 2010, that there are no effective mechanisms in Bulgaria to investigate the top prosecutor even when he is suspected of a serious offence. The government proposal was submitted in June 2019 and the proposed mechanism for investigation of the Prosecutor General puts in the same package the Presidents of the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court.

The Venice Commission now says that the bill “not only fails to resolve the current shortcomings relating to the independence and effectiveness of investigation concerning a Chief Prosecutor, but could make such an investigation more difficult to initiate.”

Also, it says that the execution of the Kolevs judgment does not require changes of the rules on investigation concerning the Presidents of the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court, and notes “with concern that the draft bill of 14 June 2019 contains provisions for the automatic suspension of these two most senior judges which could threaten their independence”. Therefore it urges the Bulgarian authorities to reconsider the proposal concerning the suspension of the two top judges.

The Venice Commission decision “notes with interest that Parliament adopted at first reading amendments which seem to introduce adequate safeguards for the suspension of judges in general”.

The Committee of Ministers urges the authorities to introduce judicial review of prosecutorial refusals to open investigations.

Also, it urges the authorities to introduce solid guarantees for institutional, hierarchical and practical independence of all the bodies supervising or conducting an investigation concerning the Prosecutor General.

The Bulgarian government is now expected to draw up without delay new legislative proposals guaranteeing the independence and effectiveness of an investigation concerning the Prosecutor General or to propose constitutional amendments if there are constitutional obstacles to doing so.

The Committee of Ministers will revisit the case at its June 2020 meeting. LN