Parliament Approves New Penal Code Project / Legal Services in Bulgaria

Parliament Approves New Penal Code Project

by Sofia News Agency www.novinite.com

The temporary parliamentary commission on legal issues unanimously accepted the project for a new Criminal Procedure Code on the first reading. The draft law will be filed for voting Thursday. Bulgaria's previous government entered the Code. All parliamentary groups backed it Tuesday. Socialist Coalition for Bulgaria and rightist Democrats for Strong Bulgaria and Union of Democratic Forces announced they will express their objections regarding separate texts in the draft law before the second reading. The draft law represents a key engagement towards the European Union requirements for judicial reform. However, the Attorney's and Prosecution offices have criticized it. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Hristo Manchev has warned that accepting the Code in its current outline might block prosecution work. Therefore, he said, the figure of the observing prosecutor must be dropped off. Last week the leftists announced plans to back off their Criminal Procedure Code draft and support the one, prepared by the party of former king and former prime minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg. The move fed speculations that the Socialists will try to cut out the unwanted clauses after the crucial report of the European Commission is wrapped up. The Criminal Procedure Code is on the list of legislation Bulgaria has to adopt by November, when the comprehensive monitoring report on the progress made in the candidate countries will be issued. Bulgaria's Justice Ministry has repeatedly pledged that the country will fully implement the engagements it undertook in the accession negotiations under the Justice and Home Affairs chapter. The European Commission in its turn has continually stressed that the overarching challenge for the country remains the reform of the judicial system, "the priority of priorities."