6 NGOs have issued an open letter against government’s draft bill on a “independent prosecutor”and request for the dismissal of the Justice Minister

The draft bill changes in the Penal Procedure Code of Bulgaria which were suggested by the Government after an urgent meeting on Saturday, Dec 7, 2019 regard the introduction of the figure of an “independent prosecutor” and are an imitation with political effect. They are non-compliant with the recommendations of the Venice Commission regarding the introduction of a mechanism to ensure independent and effective investigation of the Chief Prosecutor in Bulgaria.
This statement is part of an open letter issued jointly by 6 leading Bulgarian NGOs in the sphere of the rule of law – The Anti-Corruption Fund, the Bulgarian Lawyers for Human Rights, the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Iniciatives, The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, The Institute for Market Economy, and the Access to Information Programme.
They all demand the dismissal of the author of the suggested draft bill – the Minister of Justice Danail Kirilov.
The Minster’s draft bill is “not only legally unsustained but in sharp dissonance with the negative opinion of the Venice Commission on the initially presented draft bill” the joint position reads.
The six organisations reiteratre that in its judgment in the case of Kolevi v. Bulgaria the ECtHR established the lack of any statutory procedure for independent investigation and revocation of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Bulgaria in case of a suspected crime. In practice this renders the Prosecutor General’s Office an uncontrollable and unaccountable institution with limitless power which the Venice Commission compared to the figure of an unremovable monarch, immune to any prosecution.
Both the ECHR and the Venice Commission have repeatedly stressed that arrangements envisaged to secure the independent investigation of the Prosecutor General must ensure hierarchical and institutional independence of all bodies supervising or conducting the investigation.
The draft bill proposed at the ad hoc meeting of the Council of Ministers on 7 December 2019 does not meet these standards.
The Venice Commission has repeatedly recommended to Bulgaria to further reduce the influence of the Prosecutor General over the Prosecutorial Chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) as well as the influence of the SJC members elected by peer prosecutors by means of a blocking veto in the investigations and submitting proposals to the President of the Republic for dismissal of the Prosecutor General.
In relation to the presented draft bill, the Venice Commission expressed its concerns as regards the risks for the independence of the court stemming from the institutional structure of the Supreme Judicial Council which allows decisions to be taken under the strong influence of the Prosecutor General. The election of Mr Ivan Geshev for Prosecutor General earlier this year demonstrated clearly this influence: Mr Geshev was elected by 17 votes of the prosecutors and SJC members elected by the parliamentary represented parties.
In relation with the above, the six organizations called the Prime Minister to immediately seek the resignation of Mr Danail Kirilov as the author of the draft bills in question and the one responsible for the reform of the judiciary.
They insist on a judicial reform that would guarantee the independence of the court and the accountability, including liability, of the Prosecutor General, in line with the recommendations made by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and the Venice Commission to ensure the rule of law in the country.
The full text of the open letter is available here.
The letter was submitted the the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria on Dec 12,2019 and is signed by:
Boyko Stankushev, Anti-Corruption Fund
Diliana Markova, Bulgarian Lawyers for Human Rights Foundation
Bilyana Gyaurova-Wegertseder, Bulgarian Institute for Legal initiatives“
Krasimir Kanev, Bulgarian Helsinki Committee“
Svetla Kostadinova, Institute for Market Economy“
Dr. Gergana Zhouleva
Access to Information Programme“
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