Fiches Belges

Confrontation/line-up is an applicable measure under international legal cooperation on grounds of the Bulgarian legislation - used in cases when there is a contradiction between the testimony of the defendant/accused person and testimony of the witness/es. Form of the request-European investigation order with a request for an interrogation via confrontation and incorporating, into the EIO, a questionnaire. Presence of the issuing authorities on the territory of the executing country and interrogation through the competent authorities of the executing country. Via videoconference when the defendant is living abroad. Then the issuing authorities can run the interrogation in accordance with the rules of the video conference.

EU MLA Convention 2000 CoE European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (1959) Directive 2014/41/EU on EIOs Art. 143, art. 169 – art. 171 of the Bulgarian Criminal Procedure Code The Bulgarian EIO Act

Competent body for recognition and execution of the EIO in the pre-trial criminal proceeding-a prosecutor from the respective district or military-district prosecutor's office within whose judicial region the person/persons reside; Competent body for recognition and execution of the EIO during the trial phase or in case the EIO is issued by an administrative authority - the respective district or military court within whose judicial region the person/persons reside.

In case of EIO - The EIO should be accompanied by a translation 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.

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 judicial investigation measures 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 measure 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 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 additional time necessary to execute an investigative measure and other judicial investigation measures shall be determined. 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 a specific deadline is not envisaged. The practice shows that the fulfillment of requests usually takes between two and four months. The Republic of Bulgaria has declared that a summons on an accused person who is in its territory must be transmitted to the competent authorities no later than 50 days before the date set for that person's appearance - in case the confrontation includes interrogation of such person.

The rules of Convention 2000 and the provisions of the Directive 2014/41/EU on EIOs apply to the EU Member States. For the non-EU States apply the rules of the CoE European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (1959).