Bulgaria’s Justice Minister Warns of Prosecuting Authority with Unchecked Power

Bulgaria’s prosecuting authority should not be granted overly-extensive powers to intervene in civil cases and should instead focus on boosting its efficiency on criminal cases, according to Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov.

Asked to comment on the bill submitted by ruling center-right party GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) last week, Ivanov suggested that Bulgaria had to stay as far as possible from a prosecuting authority with unchecked discretion and excessive power to intervene in civil affairs and in relations in which it was not supposed to.

Ivanov argued that the prosecuting authority had to be integrated in some sort of system allowing for democratic control and accountability which also preserved its professional independence.

He claimed that piecemeal actions and interventions clashed with the characteristics of the prosecuting authority on which consensus had been achieved.

Ivanov, as cited by the Bulgarian National Radio, noted that the prosecuting authority had to be sufficiently immune to temptations to take part in political life and the distribution of resources.

He argued that it also had to be held accountable for failing to cope with high-profile cases.

Ivanov said that the authorities had to make sure that the changes were aimed at achieving tangible results instead of just making headlines in media outlets.

He admitted that judicial reform could only be accomplished through changes to the Constitution, adding that there was not enough political will to implement these amendments at present.

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