Fiches Belges

Surveillance and tracking of a person (tracking device being installed/put by an executing state) is an applicable measure according to the Bulgarian legislation under international judicial cooperation. Surveillance and tracking of a person are special investigative techniques for gathering evidence in criminal proceedings according to the Bulgarian Law on Special Intelligence Means - Articles 5 and 7: -Surveillance is visually and by technical means disclosure and creation of documents for various aspects of the activities and behaviour of persons and objects in their movement, residence in different places or changes in the specific environment; -Tracking is visually and by technical devices detection, disclosure and recording of the movements of monitored persons. The measure can be performed only on grounds of a decision of the competent judicial authority - district court, and may be applied both during the pre-trial stage and the court proceedings. The measure is applicable only to particular crimes - punishable with over 5 years of imprisonment under the Bulgarian Criminal Code and explicitly listed in Article 172 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Directive 2014/41/EU of EIOs Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Member States of the European Union of the year 2000. European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters of 1959 and the Second Additional Protocol to that convention. Articles 172 – 176 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Bulgaria The Bulgarian Law on EIO The Bulgarian Law on Special Intelligence Means

The competent authorities to recognize an EIO for surveillance and tracking of a person, 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 surveillance and tracking of a person – 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 and the type of crime under investigation. The competent authorities to recognize an MLA request for surveillance and tracking of a person– 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.

Surveillance and tracking of a person as special means of intelligence can be used according to Article 21 of the Bulgarian Law on Special Inrelligence Means for 2 months with opportunity for prolongation with 4 months - up to totally 6 months. Surveillance and tracking of a person can be applied for duration of 2 years with possibility of prolongation with 1 year - up to totally 3 years, to activities related to the protection of national security in cases of prevention of serious intentional crimes under Chapter One of the Special Part of the Bulgarian Criminal Code i.e. treason, terrorism etc. 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 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 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 other 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 necessary additional time for implementation of activities under investigation and other judicial investigation measures shall be determined. In case of a MLA request no specific deadlines are envisaged. The practice necessitated, when the requesting state did not set a specific term, the requests for legal assistance are to be fulfilled as soon as possible, which usually takes between two and four months according to the factual and legal complexity of the particular request.

The national rules are different in respect of cooperation within and outside of the EU. As a special requirement for the measure should be stressed that it is strongly recommended undertaking prior arrangements with regards to transfer to the issuing state of classified information as an expected result of the application of the measure.