site.btaCriminal Proceedings Most Often Delayed by Expert Examinations – Justice Minister

Expert examinations are the main reason for the delay of criminal proceedings, including traffic accident cases, Bulgarian Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev commented to journalists at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday.

On Monday, the Justice Ministry published a package of measures addressing delays of legal cases related to serious traffic accidents. The package is up for public consultation. The Ministry proposes amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code, the Judicial System Act and the Expert Witnesses Ordinance to tighten the rules on technical expert examinations in road traffic accident cases. One of the proposals is to enable courts to question expert witnesses via videoconference. Another idea is to introduce aptitude tests for expert witnesses. The Justice Ministry also wants its minister to be empowered to propose the removal of an expert witness from the courts’ lists if they repeatedly fails to discharge their duties.

Georgiev sees the fact that a first-instance court can sometimes take four to six years to collect evidence as an indication that slow justice is a very serious problem and creates a sense of deficit of justice.

“We are now eliminating the main reason for delayed litigation,” he said. The minister explained that, at present, a case can be delayed for months if an expert witness has to handle multiple cases at the same time. “We are untying the hands of Bulgarian judges to use up-to-date means of questioning expert witnesses, provided that the progress of the case is not hindered,” Georgiev said.

“It is very important that all participants in the process get the message that no one can hide behind shared responsibility,” the Justice Minister said.