Parliament adopted conclusively and without debate the mechanism for control of the Prosecutor General
The MPs on May 26 adopted conclusively and without debate the mechanism for control of the Prosecutor General. The votes in favour were 210, with the BSP not participating in the vote. "Not a single MP in the Chamber voted against or abstained.
What does this mean in practice?
If President Rumen Radev signs the decree on the promulgation of these amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code, the texts will enter into force within the legally established deadline and there is no reason why the mechanism regarding the chief prosecutor should not be applied. With regard to the dismissal of the Prosecutor General, this will be possible with 13 votes of the Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council, and as regards the heads of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Supreme Administrative Court with 17 votes.
The changes provide for submitting the report for possible offences to the Supreme Court of Cassation, which will randomly assign a judge to open an investigation against the Prosecutor General or the heads of the supreme courts. The randomly selected SCC judge is appointed as the deputy prosecutor general and is tasked only with overseeing the prosecutor general's actions.
The changes to the Criminal Procedure Code also stipulate that if the investigation against the prosecutor general or his or her deputy lasts more than 2 years, a new one shall be elected. The SCC judge returns to his former position at the conclusion of the investigation.
The MPs also decided that the Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council can take decisions regarding the heads of the three supreme courts, while a majority of 13 votes is needed regarding the prosecutor general, instead of 17 as before. In the case of the supreme court judges, the majority will be 17 votes, with the representatives of the judges' college having to prevail.
