Fiches Belges

Controlled delivery is an applicable measure according to the Bulgarian legislation under international judicial cooperation as a special intelligence mean. According to Art.10A of the Bulgarian Special Intelligence Means Act, the controlled delivery is performed by an intelligence authority and is used by an investigating authority within the limits of its competence in the presence of uninterrupted strict control on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria or another country in the frame of international legal cooperation, during which a controlled individual imports, exports, carries or performs transit transportation through the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria of an object of a criminal offence, with view of disclosing the participants in the trans-border crime. The measure is applicable only for investigation of a serious intentional crime - 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.

EU MLA Convention 2000 (Art.12) Directive 2014/41/EU on European Investigation Orders/EIOs Art. 172 - 177 and Art. 476 (4) of the Bulgarian Criminal Procedure Code Art.10A of the Bulgarian Special Intelligence Means Act Art. 32 of the Bulgarian European Investigation Order Act

In case of EIO the competent authority to receive and rule on the recognition of the request is as follows: - In the pre-trial stage: a prosecutor from the respective district or military-district prosecutor's office within whose judicial region the measure is requested to be performed; - 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 measure is requested to be performed. In case of MLA request the competent authority to receive and rule on the recognition of the request is as follows: - In the pre-trial stage: The Bulgarian Supreme Prosecutor's Office of Cassation; - In the trial stage: The Bulgarian Ministry of Justice. The permission for the use of this special intelligence mean is given in advance by the chairman of the respective district/military court or by a deputy chairman of the relevant court explicitly authorized thereby upon a substantiated written request.

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 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.

Controlled delivery as special mean of intelligence can be used according to Article 21 of the Bulgarian Law on Special Intelligence Means for 2 months with opportunity for prolongation with 4 months - up to totally 6 months. The measure 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 recognition and execution of a EIO which concerns controlled delivery may be refused if the execution of the measure is not authorised by Bulgarian legislation in similar cases. The details related to the execution of a EIO issued for the implementation of controlled delivery should be agreed between the issuing state and the Republic of Bulgaria with due regard to the national legislation of the two states. 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.