site.btaParliamentary Ad Hoc Committee Approves at First Reading Bill on Tackling Corruption of Public Office Holders

The parliamentary ad hoc committee on legal affairs on Thursday approved at first reading a bill on tackling corruption among public office holders, by a 20-2 votes and no abstentions. The bill was submitted by the caretaker cabinet on April 30.

The bill envisages the establishment of a five-member Anti-Corruption Commission, with one of its members being elected by the National Assembly, one being appointed by the President of the Republic, one each being elected by the general assemblies of the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court, and one being elected by the Supreme Bar Council. The Commission is to serve a single five-year term in office, and its members will rotate annually as chairperson. Once every six months, the Commission will account for its performance before Parliament and will also present an annual activity report.   

The Anti-Corruption Commission will be competent to lodge appeals before the court against a prosecutor's refusal to institute pre-trial proceedings. Judicial review of the termination and stay of pre-trial proceedings investigated by Commission employees will be mandatory.

Committee chair Yanka Tyankova  said that the bill is being adopted under urgent conditions in order to safeguard payments under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Lyubomir Talev from the legislative council with the Ministry of Justice explained that the extension granted by the European Commission has a deadline of May 31 this year, and the deadline for promulgation in the State Gazette is June 5. “If we do not adopt the law now, the funds will have to be returned to the budget,” Talev added. According to him, a one-month period is foreseen after the law’s adoption for the institutions to conduct the selection procedures.

“Our parliamentary group will support the bill. It is not new; it is 90% identical to the one we proposed and adopted in 2023, and it is an extremely important law for Bulgaria in terms of payments and commitments under the Resilience and Recovery Plan,” said Raya Nazaryan of GERB–UDF.

“This law largely repeats the previous anti-corruption law, which existed for less than two and a half years and did not lead to a fight against high-level corruption,” said MP Petar Petrov from Vazrazhdane. According to him, the bill does not guarantee political independence or the avoidance of opportunities for influence. He added that the positive aspect is the newly introduced mandatory judicial review in cases of termination of pre-trial proceedings.

“We will support the proposed bill. The texts are largely not new, but we fully share the proposed method for forming the commission,” said Nadejda Iordanova from Democratic Bulgaria. She noted that they support the proposal for checks on persons holding high-ranking positions.

“The bad practice does not give us grounds to reject this bill and lose the funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan,” said Elena Noneva from Progressive Bulgaria. She emphasized that the bill provides for the possibility of judicial review.

“We will definitely support the bill. Last year we already warned that dissolving the commission was a mistake,” said Stoyu Stoev from We Continue the Change.