site.btaEuropean Commission Refers Bulgaria to Court over Right to Information in Criminal Proceedings

The European Commission Thursday said it has decided to refer Bulgaria to the EU Court of Justice for failing to correctly transpose the Directive on Right to Information in Criminal Proceedings (Directive 2012/13/EU). The deadline for Member States to transpose the Directive was June 2, 2014, the press release reads.

On September 23, 2021, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Bulgaria for failure to transpose the Directive correctly into its national law. On September 28, 2023, the Commission sent a reasoned opinion reiterating the grievances set out in the letter of formal notice. 

Bulgaria has still not fully addressed the Commission's concerns such as the incorrect transposition of the scope of the Directive for persons who are de facto suspected of having committed a criminal offence but who have not yet been officially recognised as accused persons.

This means that, in Bulgaria, persons who are only suspected and not yet officially accused of having committed a criminal offence do not enjoy the rights to which they are entitled under the Directive, which can significantly impact the fairness of their trial. This issue in turn affects the correct transposition of substantive rights set out in the Directive, such as the right to information about rights, which Bulgarian law does not extend to de facto suspects. While Bulgaria has taken first steps to address the identified grievances concerning the right to a Letter of Rights in European Arrest Warrant proceedings and the right of access to the materials of the case, the additional measures adopted are also not sufficient to ensure the correct transposition of these rights. The Commission has therefore decided to refer the case to the EU Court of Justice.