Opinion of the Director of the Human Rights Directorate of the Council of Europe on the Investigation Mechanism of the Prosecutor General

On 18 and 19 January, the Director of the Human Rights Directorate of the Council of Europe sent an opinion to the Bulgarian authorities on the new mechanism for investigating the Prosecutor General proposed by the ruling majority. The opinion states that the reform in question can only be seen as a “temporary mechanism” that needs serious revisions. The petitioners already adopted some of the guidelines of these revisions in the second reading of the bill. 

The Council of Europe states that a lasting solution would be only future reforms, which provide a mechanism for fully independent and effective investigation, as well as: 

• structural change of the Supreme Judicial Council following the Venice Commission’s recommendations, 
• an opportunity for judicial review of the prosecutor’s refusal to initiate an investigation and bring charges. 
• establishing a mechanism for the investigation of the Prosecutor General, in which a separate judge / several judges will intervene as an ad hoc prosecutor. 

Two recent analyzes of the ACF defended similar ideas, namely the introduction of: 

• judicial control over the way the criminal prosecution is carried out – see Exercising control over the prosecution function – the necessary criminal justice reform
• an independent investigation by the Prosecutor General, led by an ad hoc collective body composed of judges: see THE ILLUSION OF THE BULGARIAN LEGISLATOR – creating a mechanism for effective investigation of the Prosecutor General

You can see the opinion of the Director of the Human Rights Directorate of the Council of Europe here