site.btaJustice Ministry Has Prepared 10 Regulatory Acts, Finalized Legislative Reforms to Save Recovery and Resilience Plan Payments, Minister Georgiev Says

Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev Friday reported his Ministry's main accomplishments in the first 100 days since the Rosen Zhelyazkov Cabinet took office. The Ministry has prepared 10 regulatory acts which have been published for public consultation, the minister reported in a Facebook post.

The Justice Ministry's most urgent aims are not to lose any money under the Recovery and Resilience Plan and to remove the country from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) list of Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring (also known as the FATF grey list).

The Ministry has finalized all legislative reforms required for the second payment request to be approved, Georgiev said and enumerated the changes to the Mediation Act, which gives the possibility of resolving disputes more quickly and effectively through mediation to 12 groups of commercial and civil cases, the Whistleblowers Protection Bill adopted at first reading, amendments to the Bill on Personal Bankruptcy, amendments to the Code of Administrative Procedure, introducing e-justice in administrative cases.

In order to take Bulgaria off the "grey list", the Ministry has prepared amendments to the Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and the Administrative Violations and Penalties Act, with which measures against money laundering, bribery of officials and financing of terrorism are introduced, Georgiev points out.

The Ministry has started work again on regulating lobbying activities, together with the non-governmental sector, which is a requirement for the third payment under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. “Measures to end road traumatism are key for the government and a topic that I have personally been working on in recent years,” the minister pointed out.

After nearly two years of delay, the National Assembly adopted at first reading the bill, which was prepared together with [former Sofia Mayor] Yordanka Fandakova and the National Association of Municipalities, to include municipal traffic cameras in speed control systems.

After the cruelty against animals’ case in Pernik, the Ministry of Justice prepared amendments to the Penal Code, with which new, higher penalties for the manifestation of cruelty against animals, when the act is filmed for the purpose of distribution and/or for a profit have been proposed. “We are expanding the activities of the National Legal Aid Bureau, together with the 27 local bar councils, to help citizens who are victims of domestic violence,” Georgiev added.

He also noted that legislative changes are being worked out to facilitate access to the labor market for citizens from third countries, which is important for business.

An increase in the salaries of over 5,000 employees in the General Directorate for the Execution of Penalties, the General Directorate “Protection”, and the Bureau for Protection of Endangered Persons to the Ministry of Justice, has become a fact, Georgi Georgiev also wrote on Facebook.