Bulgarian President Still at Odds with Parliament over Tapping

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has stated he will refer to the Constitutional Court the newly passed amendments to Bulgaria's act on the use of special surveillance.

Before going out on recession end of last week, Parliament overturned Plevneliev's earlier veto on the bill.

According to the Bulgarian Constitution, the President must then sign the act into law, which Plevneliev stated he will.

But the also said he will use his power to refer the act to the Constitutional Court for review.

Plevneliev commended MPs intentions to create more transparency and control in the use of special surveillance.

But according to him, a number of provisions in the new act breach the constitutional balance of powers and concentrate too much power in the hands of the executive and special agencies.

In particular, he objected to the creation of a new unit that can issue binding directives to members of the judiciary and to investigators.

He also questioned what he called a narrowing of the scope of parliamentary control over the executive in matters of special surveillance.

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