Bulgarian MPs Propose Amendments to Jurisdiction of Third-Instance Court

MPs from ruling center-right party GERB, nationalist Ataka and the Bulgarian Socialist Party have proposed amendments to the Penal Procedure Code regarding the jurisdiction of Bulgaria's Supreme Court of Cassation (VKS).

Under the proposal, VKS will be empowered to conduct substantive examinations and issue final verdicts on cases returned to a court of lower instance in which the re-trial resulted in a decision which was again appealed before VKS.

In such cases, VKS will not return the verdict of the court of lower instance for further revision, but will make a substantive review and come up with a final pronouncement.

GERB MP Anastas Anastasov, one of the proponents of the amendments, has cited an example of a case which was returned by VKS 14 times, with all decisions of the second-instance court re-appealed.

According to the supporters of the procedural amendments, as cited by Bulgarian Dnevnik daily, this is not an isolated occurrence and in 2010 VKS judge panels issued a second, third or fourth annulment decision on 86 cases.

If the amendments are passed, VKS will be able to make a one-off return to a second-instance court and if the new decision again reaches third instance, VKS will have the final say.

MPs from all parties represented in Parliament have sided with the initiative, saying that the proposed mechanism was in force some time ago but was replaced by what proved to be a vicious circle.

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