Legal Affairs Committee in Parliament Adopts Proposals for Amendments to Domestic Violence Act

Matey Todorov

BTA photo

Sofia,

03.08.2023 16:18

(BTA)

The Legal Affairs Committee in Parliament adopted proposals for amendments to the Protection against Domestic Violence Act. The amendments were proposed by Boyko Borisov from GERB-UDF, Kiril Petkov from CC-DB, Delyan Peevski from MRF, and a group of MPs. Domestic violence should now be punished not only in the case of marriage or cohabitation, but also in the case of an intimate relationship, the bill says.

Twelve MPs voted in favour of the changes, six abstained.

In 2021, four men and four women died in intimate partner violence, said Nadezhda Yordanova of CC-DB. When partners have an intimate relationship, the victim should be able to get protection and the abuser should go through programmes to curb aggression, she said. Yordanova said the now-proposed changes to the law need improvement.

Justice Minister Atanas Slavov said the Ministry supports the proposed changes.

Some of the opinions expressed at the committee meeting were that the concept of "intimate relationship" could be added to the text on de facto cohabitation.

TISP's Grozdan Karadzhov said he had read various opinions that this definition would not protect victims of violence. He said it was unclear what exactly constituted a "relatively durable union" as stated in the bill.

We have started a debate to clarify how to specify when there is violence between intimate partners, said Petar Kyosev from the CC-DB.

We are facing a serious problem with regard to intimate relationships. It has been smouldering for a long time and has been noticed as a problem by judges, said Mimi Furnadjieva, deputy chair of the Supreme Court of Cassation. She said the law does not cover particularly vulnerable persons. No opportunities are given to protect people in refugee centres, in homes, roommates.

Mariana Evtimova from PULSE Foundation thinks it is better to keep the term "intimate relationship". She cited a recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights in a case against Bulgaria involving a 16-year-old girl who was a victim of psychological abuse. In it, the court criticised the absence of the term 'intimate relationship'.

Lawyer Aneli Chobanova said the law should be clear. She suggested that a psychologist should give an opinion on how many dimensions and manifestations an intimate relationship has. It is also unclear how intimacy will be proven in court, she said.

Parliament's legal committee met in emergency on Thursday over changes to the Criminal Code and the Protection against Domestic Violence Act.

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