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LAURA KEVESHI PHOTO: Reuters
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Bulgaria has appointed the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and the Customs Agency to submit signals to the European Prosecutor’s Office on initiated criminal proceedings, the Ministry of Justice announced.
The two institutions will be able to notify the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to decide whether to seize the proceedings for their own investigation. Until now, only the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor’s Office (SCP) had such an opportunity.
Following the notification, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office will be able to interact directly with the police and customs authorities, without this process being mediated by the Supreme Prosecution Office. European Attorney General Laura Coveschi has called for such action in order to boost co-operation and the effectiveness of investigations, the justice ministry said.
The Ministry of the Interior and the Customs Agency will also function as units that forward the signals received from the national authorities to the central office of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Luxembourg when the national authorities choose this channel of communication.
The circle of institutions that can submit signals to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office has also been expanded. These are all bodies of Bulgaria, which in the course of their activity have received information about a crime against which the European Public Prosecutor’s Office could exercise its competence.
The Ministry of Justice will continue to work actively to facilitate the reporting process, recalling that all citizens can report. Detailed information in Bulgarian, as well as the required form, can be found at the following address: https://www.eppo.europa.eu/bg/
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