Fiches Belges

Request to provide documents, objects or information is a possible measure according to the Bulgarian legislation under international judicial cooperation. Upon request of the court or the pre-trial authorities, all institutions, legal persons, officials and citizens are be obligated to preserve and hand over all objects, papers, computerized data and other data, that may be of significance to the case. Upon request by a court – in the trial proceedings, or based on motivated order by a judge of the respective court of first instance, issued by request of the relevant prosecutor – in the pre-trial proceedings, the enterprises, providing public electronic communication networks and/or services are obliged to make available the data, generated in the course of performance of their activities, which may be required for: 1. tracing and identification of the source of the communication link; 2. identification of the direction of the communication link; 3. identification of the date, hour and duration of the communication link; 4. identification of the type of the communication link; 5. to identify the terminal equipment of the user or what purports to be a terminal equipment of the user; 6. establishment of an identification code of the cells used. This data can be collected where required for investigation of serious premeditated crimes – crimes for which the law provides punishment by imprisonment for more than five years, life imprisonment or life imprisonment without substitution. The time period, for which provision of such data may be requested and authorised, must not exceed 6 months. Disclosure of tax and social-insurance information is possible upon a court ruling – in the trial proceedings, or based on motivated order by a judge of the respective administrative court, issued by request of the relevant prosecutor – in the pre-trial proceedings.

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 Tax and Social Insurance Procedure Code EIO Act

The competent authorities to recognize an EIO with the scope to secure provision of documents, objects or information, 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, in whose region the respective investigative action or other procedural actions are requested, or the transfer of the evidence already available, or a prosecutor from the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office; 2. in the court proceedings - the respective district or military court, in whose region the performance of the respective judicial investigative action or the transfer of the evidence, which are already available, or the Sofia City Court. 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 with the scope to secure provision of documents, objects or information – 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 with the scope to secure provision of documents, objects or information – in cases where the CoE European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters applies, are as follows: -in the pre-trial proceedings - the Supreme 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 of 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 procedural actions within 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 action and other procedural actions 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 other procedural actions 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 necessary additional time for implementation of activities under investigation and other procedural actions shall be determined. In case of a MLA request on the grounds of the EU MLA Convention 2000 or of 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 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).