Fiches Belges

Under Bulgarian law, cross border hot pursuit falls within the scope of police-to-police cooperation. Cross border hot pursuit is a persecution of a person caught in the act of committing a specified offence (envisaged in The Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 or eligible for issuing a European Arrest Warrant), that has started from the territory of one member state and continued into the territory of another. The measure is also applied in case where the persecuted person has escaped from a place of detention or while serving a sentence of imprisonment. The pursuing officers have the right to continue the persecution from their national territory into the territory of Bulgaria without prior permission and time restrictions only in urgent circumstances where it is not possible the Bulgarian authorities to be notified in advance or where they are unable to reach the scene in time to take over the pursuit. The pursuing officers shall contact the competent Bulgarian authorities at the moment of crossing the border at the latest. The persecution shall cease when the Bulgarian authorities so request. On request of the pursuing officers the Bulgarian authorities shall challenge the pursued person in order to establish the person's identity or to make an arrest.

Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders - Article 41 Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Government of the Republic of Greece for Cross-Border Police Cooperation Agreement between the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Estonia for Cooperation in Border Management and Police Cooperation in Criminal matters Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Government of Romania on Cross-Border Police Cooperation in Criminal Matters

Under Bulgarian law, cross border hot pursuit falls within the scope of police-to-police cooperation. For the Bulgarian side: General Directorate of Criminal Police, General Directorate of Security Police, General Directorate of Border Police, General Directorate of Pre-trial Proceedings, Specialized Directorate of Operational Technical Operations of the Ministry of Interior and Territorial Structures of the Ministry of Interior

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The pursuing officers shall not have the right to apprehend the pursued person. They can detain the person in urgent cases and under specific rules - until his identity is established or he is detained by Bulgarian authorities.