Fiches Belges

1.BG is an executing state; Form-European Investigation Order: - Competent body for its recognition and execution in the pre-trial criminal proceeding-a prosecutor from the respective district or military-district prosecutor's office within whose judicial region the person whose interrogation is requested lives; - Competent body for its recognition and execution during the trial phase or in case the EIO is issued by an administrative authority - the respective district or military court within whose judicial region the person whose interrogation is requested lives. Procedural conditions for video conference performance: -Who can be interrogated? –defendant (accused parson),witness or expert; -Defendant(accused person)-after his/her consent only; -Witness/expert-their consent is not needed. Video conference procedure: -The competent authority summons the wanted person, checks his/her identity and informs him/her about their rights and responsibilities if they falsely testify; -The competent authority shall provide all necessary technical devices for the video conference performance. If it is necessary the competent authority will provide an interpreter. The interrogation itself is done by the competent body of the issuing country or under its direction in compliance with the law of the issuing state. If during the video conference there is some violation of the BG legislation (perjury), the BG body will take the relevant measures for the committed crime. In the end of the interrogation the competent body will draft a protocol which contains – the date, place of the interrogation, the identity of the interrogated person, the identity of all participated persons during the video conference and their capacity the technical conditions for the video conference. The competent authority sends the protocol to the issuing authorities. 2.BG is issuing state: Form-European Investigation Order. Competent body for issuing EIO: -the case supervising prosecutor from the competent Prosecutor`s office who is dealing with the case; -the judge in the competent court (regional, district, appeal) who is dealing with the case. The video conference procedure and conditions-applicable is the law of the Executing state. According to the latest amendments to the EIO Act, the EIO can be issued by an administrative authority: the EIO in such cases is subject to approval by a judge of the regional court within whose judicial district the administrative violation has been committed or completed or, where the violation has been committed abroad, the EIO is subject to approval by a judge of the Sofia Regional Court.

Directive 2014/41/EU on EIOs EU MLA Convention 2000 Non-EU - CoE European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (1959) Non-EU - CoE Second Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (2001) Art. 115, art. 138-139, art. 149, art. 474 of the Bulgarian Criminal Procedure Code Art. 28 of the Bulgarian EIO Act

In case of EIO: - In the pre-trial stage:a prosecutor from the respective district or military-district prosecutor's office within whose judicial region the person whose interrogation is requested lives; - In the trial stage or in case of EIO issued by an administrative body: the respective district or military court within whose judicial region the person whose interrogation is requested lives. In case of MLA request: - In the pre-trial stage: The National Investigation Service, the requests should be addressed to the Supreme Prosecutor`s Office; - In the trial stage: The Court of Appeal in which area the person whose interrogation is requested resides.

In case of EIO - The EIO should be accompanied by a translation into Bulgarian or English. In case of MLA request - for non-EU issuing state: Bulgarian language or one of the official languages of the Council of Europe. With regard to promptness and efficiency, it is recommended the requests/decisions to be accompanied by a translation into the Bulgarian language.

In case of EIO - The authority competent to execute the EIO is obliged to carry out the investigative measure not later than 90 days from the date of the recognition of the legal instrument. If it is not possible to meet this time limit, the executing competent authority is obliged to inform the issuing authority of the reasons for the delay and, after consultation, an additional time necessary to execute the investigative measure can be determined. In case of MLA request - for non-EU issuing state: A specific deadline is not envisaged.

According to the Bulgarian Criminal Procedure Code and the Bulgarian EIO Act the measure is applicable in cases where a defendant (accused parson), a witness or an expert is under interrogation. Only the consent of the defendant (accused parson) is needed for the execution of the measure. The national rules are different in respect of cooperation within or outside of the EU - with respect to the competent Bulgarian authorities, the accepted languages and the terms for the execution of the relevant legal instrument.