site.btaParliament Adopts on First Reading Amendments to Extradition and European Arrest Warrant Act

Bulgaria’s National Assembly adopted on first reading, 118-28 with 20 abstentions, a bill to amend and supplement the Extradition and the European Arrest Warrant Act. The bill was passed on Tuesday without debate.

According to a report of the Legal Affairs Committee, the bill provides for the creation of a new provision introducing an obligation for the prosecutor handling a particular case to submit a request to the relevant court of first instance for a detention order to be issued against the defendant for the purpose of issuing a European Arrest Warrant. The court shall rule within three days of receiving the request and shall examine the legality and proportionality of issuing a European Arrest Warrant.

Another provision regulates the reception of the person by the EU Member State executing the European Arrest Warrant, as well as the obligations of the prosecutor to immediately submit a request for a pre-trial detention order by the relevant court of first instance under the Criminal Procedure Code.

It is proposed that in the framework of these proceedings, the defendant, who has already been brought to Bulgaria, and their legal defense may challenge the legality and proportionality of the European Arrest Warrant issued by the prosecutor, thus guaranteeing the defendant's right to defend themselves against the actions taken against them by the prosecution service, the Legal Affairs Committee's report states.

A European Affairs Committee's report states that the amendments are put forward in connection with an infringement procedure for a breach of EU law and of the 2002 framework decision on the European Arrest Warrant.