Fiches Belges

Hearing – as a standard procedure, when the respective person appears personally for interrogation, is an applicable measure according to the Bulgarian legislation under international judicial cooperation. Since the hearing is preceded by summoning the Bulgarian law provisions of the latter are also applicable – see measure A.10.

Directive 2014/41/EU on EIOs EU MLA Convention 2000 non-EU - CoE European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (1959) The Bulgarian Criminal Procedure Code The Bulgarian EIO Act

The competent authorities to recognize an EIO for a hearing, issued by a competent authority of another Member State, are : 1. in the pre-trial proceedings - a prosecutor from the respective district or military-district prosecutor's office within whose judicial region the relevant investigative measure is requested to be carried out or evidence which is already in possession is requested to be transferred; 2. in the court proceedings or in case the EIO is issued by an administrative authority - the respective district or military court within whose judicial region the judicial investigation measure concerned is requested to be carried out or evidence which is already in possession is requested to be transferred. When the EIO has been sent to a body, which is not competent to recognize it, it shall send it ex officio to the respective competent authority and shall immediately notify the issuing body thereof in a manner allowing written certification of the authenticity of the receipt and of its content. The competent authorities to recognize an MLA request for a hearing – in cases where the EU MLA Convention 2000 applies, are the respective local District/Regional Courts and District/Regional Prosecution offices – with regards of the stage of criminal proceedings. The competent authorities to recognize an MLA request for a hearing – in cases where the CoE European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters applies, are as follows: -in the pre-trial proceedings - the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria; -in the trial proceedings - the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Bulgaria.

In case of an EIO the legal instrument should be sent to the competent authorities translated into Bulgarian or English. In case of a MLA request on the grounds of the EU MLA Convention 2000 or the CoE European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters - the legal instrument should be sent to the competent authorities translated into Bulgarian or one of the official languages of the Council of Europe. With regard to promptness and efficiency, it is recommended the requests to be accompanied by a translation into Bulgarian.

In case of an EIO, no later than 30 days from the receipt of the EIO the competent authority has to take a decision for its recognition and execution. This term may be extended by not more than 30 days after indicating the reasons for the delay and after consultations between the competent authority and the issuing body. The competent authority for the execution of the EIO shall carry out actions for the investigation and other judicial investigation measures no later than 90 days from the date of its recognition. When it is not possible to observe the above terms, the competent authority shall immediately notify the issuing body of the reasons for the delay and after conducting consultations the necessary additional time for execution of an investigation measure and other judicial investigation measures shall be determined. When the issuing body has indicated in the EIO that due to the determined procedural terms, the gravity of the crime, or other especially urgent circumstances a shorter term is necessary or that investigative and judicial investigation measures must be carried out on a specific date, the competent authority for the execution of the EIO shall comply with this requirement as far as possible. When it is not possible to comply with the term or the specific date, the competent authority shall immediately notify the issuing body of the reasons and after conducting consultations the additional time necessary to execute an investigative measure and other judicial investigation measures shall be determined. In case of a MLA request on the grounds of the EU MLA Convention 2000 or the CoE European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters a specific deadline is not envisaged. The practice shows that the fulfillment of requests usually takes between two and four months. The Republic of Bulgaria has declared that a summons on an accused person who is in its territory must be transmitted to the competent authorities no later than 50 days before the date set for that person's appearance.

The MLA Convention 2000 and the transposed provisions of the Directive 2014/41/EU on EIOs apply to the EU Member States. For the non-EU States apply the CoE European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (1959).