10 draft laws of the Ministry of Justice /MoJ/ have been submitted to the 49th National Assembly, the department announced.
These include the anti-corruption act, the package of amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) and the Judiciary Act introducing an effective Prosecutor General investigation mechanism, the personal bankruptcy law, amendments to the Extradition Act and the European Arrest Warrant, and the Criminal Code.
The Ministry proposed the introduction of a mechanism for seeking criminal responsibility of the Prosecutor General and his deputies. The debate on this topic began in the previous National Assembly, but no final vote was reached.
In the amendments to the Criminal Code, it is proposed to drop the qualified sign of insult and defamation of an „official“, as well as to introduce the possibility of exemption from criminal liability against imposition of an administrative sanction.
The amendments to the Extradition Act and the European Arrest Warrant propose the introduction of a two-instance judicial review of warrants issued by a prosecutor, as well as a court ruling on the person’s detention when brought to Bulgaria.
The Anti-Corruption Act will propose the creation of a commission with investigative powers, which will deal only with manifestations of corruption among the top echelon. The five members of the commission will be elected by the National Assembly, the two supreme courts, one of them will be appointed by the President.
