Series:CSD Papers on Law, Criminology, Prosecution

Crime Trends in Bulgaria 2000 – 2005: Executive Summary of CSD Report

Crime Trends in Bulgaria 2000 – 2005: Executive Summary of CSD Report

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The current publication focuses on the main findings from the National Crime Surveys. Toward the end of the 1990s and, particularly after the year 2000, as the prospect of EU membership became more likely, greater political stability and economic prosperity in Bulgaria led to a gradual decrease in crime. This trend, which was most perceptible in the period 2000–2005, was the result of several factors. Declining unemployment, rising incomes and economic growth provided alternatives to many individuals with criminal incomes. Demographic processes and emigration also contributed to the reduction in crime. Further strengthening of the judiciary and the law-enforcement systems, in an attempt to meet EU-set requirements, revived the criminal justice system, which in 2004 issued six times more sentences than it did in 1993.

Opportunities for Establishment of Central Register of Legal Persons and Electronic Registries Center in Bulgaria

Opportunities for Establishment of Central Register of Legal Persons and Electronic Registries Center in Bulgaria

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The second consecutive brochure on registration reform in Bulgaria, published by CSD in May 2003, includes the full text of the updated version of the report developed by the CSD Task Force, review of the foreign experience in developing central electronic registers and a proposal for the structure of an Electronic Registries Center in Bulgaria.

Reforming Judiciary in Bulgaria: Towards the Introduction of Modern Registration System

Съдебната реформа в България: Възможности за развитие на модерна система за регистрация

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The brochure was published for the workshop Reforming Judiciary in Bulgaria: Towards the Introduction of Modern Registration System held in September 2002. It contains the full text of the report on the opportunities for developing Central Register of Legal Entities and Electronic Registries Center in Bulgaria, developed by the CSD Task Force, presentation of the experience of Norway and other European countries as well as information on the operation of the European Business Register.

Civic Defender and Local Civic Mediators: Concept Paper and Draft Law

Civic Defender and Local Civic Mediators: Concept Paper and Draft Law

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The publication Civic Defender and Local Civic Mediators: Concept Paper and Draft Law consists of both a concept paper and a proposal for a draft law for the establishment of the institutions of the Civic Defender and Local Civic Mediator in Bulgaria. It is the result of the extended research work carried out by the Law Program of the Center for the Study of Democracy during the period 1998 - 2002. The concept paper and the Draft law reflect the opinions and recommendations of Bulgarian and foreign experts, politicians, representatives of state institutions and non-governmental organizations provided at the numerous public discussions, meetings and consultations during this time.

Program for Judicial Reform in Bulgaria

Program for Judicial Reform in Bulgaria

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The Program for Judicial Reform in Bulgaria has been drafted by eminent Bulgarian lawyers within the framework of the Judicial Reform Initiative (JRI). The latter benefits from the combined efforts of State authorities, representatives of influential non-governmental organizations, and experts who offer their expertise in order to ensure further successful development of judicial reform in Bulgaria. The first draft of this Program was presented for discussion to the principal stakeholders of the JRI at a workshop in July 1999 from major stakeholders in the reform process such as the Ministry of Justice; the Supreme Judicial Council; associations and guilds of the legal profession; concerned non-governmental organizations; representatives of the media; independent legal experts and the Bulgarian citizenry. The amended and revized Program incorporates the comments, suggestions and notes provided and is representative for the state of the Bulgarian judiciary and the legislation as to May 2000.

Drug Use in Bulgaria. National representative survey, December, 2002 – January, 2003

Drug Use in Bulgaria. National representative survey, December, 2002 – January, 2003

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

On March 14, 2003 the Center for the Study of Democracy hosted a round table on Public-Private Partnerships in Preventing Drug Abuse and Trafficking. Experts from government agencies and non-governmental organizations were invited to the discussion. Experts from the Working Group on the Abuse and Trafficking of Drugs at the Center for the Study of Democracy presented the results of the first national representative survey on drugs consumption in Bulgaria. Experts from the Sofia Directorate of Internal Affairs, the National Service for Combating Organized Crime, Customs Agency, National Council on Narcotics, Bulgarian Youth Red Cross and Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation took part in the discussion.

E-newsletters on the VICS initiative. Number 1. National report on legal aid for victims of crime

E-newsletters on the VICS initiative. Number 1. Национален доклад за правната помощ за пострадалите от престъпления

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

E-newsletters on the progress of the initiative Improving protection of victims’ rights: access to legal aid (VICS) are regularly compiled and distributed among stakeholders to keep them informed about activities and recent developments. The newsletters include information about publications and events within the framework of the initiative and other legislative and practical updates in the area of victims’ rights.

E-newsletters on the VICS initiative. Number 2. Training Seminar "The Situation of Crime Victims in Criminal Proceedings and Their Access to Legal Assistance"

E-newsletters on the VICS initiative. Number 2. Обучителен семинар „Положението на пострадалите от престъпления в наказателното производство и достъпът им до правна помощ“

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

E-newsletters on the progress of the initiative Improving protection of victims’ rights: access to legal aid (VICS) are regularly compiled and distributed among stakeholders to keep them informed about activities and recent developments. The newsletters include information about publications and events within the framework of the initiative and other legislative and practical updates in the area of victims’ rights.

E-newsletters on the VICS initiative. Number 3. Presentation of the national report for Bulgaria on the initiative "Improving the protection of the rights of victims of crime: access to legal aid"

E-newsletters on the VICS initiative. Number 3. Представяне на националния доклад за България по инициативата "Подобряване на защитата на правата на пострадалите от престъпления: достъп до правна помощ"

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

E-newsletters on the progress of the initiative Improving protection of victims’ rights: access to legal aid (VICS) are regularly compiled and distributed among stakeholders to keep them informed about activities and recent developments. The newsletters include information about publications and events within the framework of the initiative and other legislative and practical updates in the area of victims’ rights.

E-newsletters on the VICS initiative. Number 4. Round table "Building long-term policies to improve the situation of victims of crime"

E-newsletters on the VICS initiative. Number 4.Кръгла маса „Формиране на дългосрочни политики за подобряване на положението на пострадалите от престъпления”

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

E-newsletters on the progress of the initiative Improving protection of victims’ rights: access to legal aid (VICS) are regularly compiled and distributed among stakeholders to keep them informed about activities and recent developments. The newsletters include information about publications and events within the framework of the initiative and other legislative and practical updates in the area of victims’ rights.

Organised Crime and the Fight Against Crime in the Western Balkans: a Comparison with the Italian Modelsand Practices. General overview and perspectives for the future

Organised Crime and the Fight Against Crime in the Western Balkans: a Comparison with the Italian Modelsand Practices. General overview and perspectives for the future

Author(s): Natale Argiro,Mauro Baldascino,Mario Battello,Atanas Rusev,Luigi Gay,Dafne Papandrea,Domenico Zinzi / Language(s): English

The policy paper (ed. Forte, R., Sapucca, 2013) offers a description of the situation of organized crime in the Western Balkans in general and in individual countries - Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro - as well as a focus on the recent legislation on the recovery and management of criminal assets in Bulgaria, used as a term of confrontation with the consolidated approach applied in Italy to such issues. It offers as well a feasibility analysis on the extension of the model to the Western Balkans. Author of the chapter on the management and disposal of confiscated criminal assets in Bulgaria is Atanas Rusev, Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Democracy. It examines the Bulgarian Asset Recovery System and the problems with the management of the seized real estate property following court orders and with the sale of confiscated property. On this basis, recommendations are made to improve the safeguarding of confiscated estates, the sales procedures and the transferring of confiscated real estate property for social re-use.

E-Tools for Criminal Case Management within Selected EU Member States

E-Tools for Criminal Case Management within Selected EU Member States

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

In recent years, public authorities have begun to adopt several statutory reforms to incorporate ICT into everyday tasks of judicial systems’ actors. In the European sphere, the concept of e-justice has been mainly developed in justice administration. This publication provides comparative analysis of current practices of justice recordkeeping and the electronic tools for measuring the judicial system performance in Finland, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany, and England and Wales as well as an overview of the introduction of ICT in the judiciaries of Bulgaria and Poland.

National Crime Survey 2008 - Results and Trends

Национално изследване за престъпността 2008 година – резултати и тенденции

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

In February 2008, the Vitosha Research study on victims of crime was completed. Vitosha Research has conducted such research annually since 2005. The aim of the study is to track downward trends in individual offenses (burglary, robbery, assaults, threats, etc.) as well as the extent to which the victims are willing to report the offenses committed against them. Another goal of the study was to trace victims' attitudes towards the police as a whole, their propensity to cooperate with law enforcement, and their general anxiety about the danger of crime. The study included special blocks devoted to two major societal problems - drug use and corruption among civil servants.

Chief Prosecutor: six months later

Главният прокурор: шест месеца по-късно

Author(s): Maria Yordanova / Language(s): Bulgarian

With the election of a new Prosecutor General every 7 years, there are traditionally associated expectations of reforming the Prosecutor's Office, which has a key role in the criminal justice system and the observance of law. The mandate is so long that the memories surrounding the election of Ivan Tatarchev and Nikola Filchev have already faded, but the memory of the unprecedented high expectations of Boris Velchev's prestigious election (politically launched single nomination) and the contradictory expectations about Sotir Tsatsarov's contested election are still too bright.

Prison Conditions Monitoring Index: Methodology and Pilot Results

INDEX DE SURVEILLANCE DES CONDITIONS DE DÉTENTION. Méthodologie et résultats de l’application pilote

Author(s): Dimitar Markov,Maria Doichinova / Language(s): French

International organisations, national governments and human rights NGOs exercise various types of monitoring of the penitentiary systems. In order to quantify their results, there are some generally accepted indicators (such as the number of inmates per 100.000 citizens), but in many specific areas like healthcare, employment, security and safety, such indicators have never been applied. Therefore, those monitoring efforts will substantially benefit from an instrument capable of supplying comparable and easy-to-use data on the situation in prisons. To address this need, the Center for the Study of Democracy, in cooperation with the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the Observatory on the Penal System and Human Rights with the University of Barcelona, the Law Institute of Lithuania and Association Droit au Droit, developed a Prison Conditions Monitoring Index (PCMI) – a system of indicators translating into comparable figures the situation in different prisons. In the end of 2014, the PCMI was piloted in several prisons in Bulgaria, Germany and Lithuania to test its operability and analyse the potential use of the results it generates. The present report elaborates on the methodology underlying the PCMI and offers a summary of the results of its pilot implementation. It is intended for a broad audience of readers including policy makers, prison staff, lawyers, social workers, academics and NGOs interested in the topic of prison monitoring.

Justice Sector Institutional Indicators for Criminal Case Management

Институционални индикатори за управление на делата в наказателното правосъдие

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The present white paper summarises the main findings of the Justice Sector Institutional Indicators for Criminal Case Management study. It puts forward the main problems which EU countries face in measuring justice system performance – there is no single assessment model and many countries are still in the experimental phase. Besides the legal accountability mechanisms courts tend to be a subject of managerial accountability. Despite the different approaches followed by the studied EU member states and the lack of a leading assessment methodology, certain indicators as caseload, duration of the procedure, available resources per number of cases can be distinguished as best practice.

Countering extortion racketeering: The Italian Experience

Италианският опит в противодействието на изнудването и рекета

Author(s): Elena Sciandra,Antonio Iafano / Language(s): Bulgarian

Extortion racketeering is a crime which spans all sections of society, poses threats to the well-being of local communities and impairs the growth and development of business. No country is immune to it, although it varies across time, space and economic context. Extortion can be perpetrated by single offenders, or it can be part of more complex criminal schemes. In this sense, the case of Italy is typical because Italian mafias systematically resort to extortion racketeering.

Ambulant sanctions as an alternative to imprisonment in the European Union

PEINES AMBULATOIRES: UNE ALTERNATIVE A L’EMPRISONNEMENT DANS L’UNION EUROPEENNE?

Author(s): Christine M. Graebsch,Sven-Uwe Burkhardt / Language(s): French

The issue of imprisonment vs. alternative penalties has been debated in various European countries during the last decades, and ambulant sanctions have been heavily on the rise. Community sentences and other alternatives to imprisonment are regarded as modern instruments for the rehabilitation of offenders. The objective of the present study is to examine the scope of application of penalties without deprivation of liberty as compared to imprisonment as well as to identify promising practices of alternative criminal sanctioning in Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain and Lithuania. As this study covers several European countries, the comparative perspective suggests itself nearly as a matter of course. In this connection, it seems reasonable to describe the existing ambulant sanctions of the different member states involved, taking into account their legal arrangement and their relation within the system of penal sanctions including their relation to the deprivation of liberty. It in addition appears sensible to describe and compare these ambulant sanctions with reference to their contribution to the re-socialisation or rehabilitation of those subjected to them as well as with special attention to the involvement of civil society in their execution. In a further step, promising practices in connection with ambulant sanctions could be highlighted which may be recommended for imitation by other member states. Such an approach proves to be impossible for multiple reasons, though, and it would be inadequate just to make such an attempt. There are exemplary references to ambulant sanctions in Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania and Spain. This is due to the fact that scientists from these countries have taken part in the realisation of this project but not necessarily because of specific outstanding features of their sanction systems in comparison with other member states.

Improving Protection of Victims’ Rights: Access to Legal Aid. Research paper on legal framework and best practices. Country Report – Bulgaria, December 2013

ПОДОБРЯВАНЕ НА ЗАЩИТАТА НА ПРАВАТА НА ПОСТРАДАЛИТЕ ОТ ПРЕСТЪПЛЕНИЯ: ДОСТЪП ДО ПРАВНА ПОМОЩ. Изследване на правната рамка и добрите практики. НАЦИОНАЛЕН ДОКЛАД – БЪЛГАРИЯ, декември 2013

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

Keywords: victims rights;

The report explores whether the victims of crime receive sufficient information about their legal situation, who is entitled to legal aid and what its scope and extent is. The document also relates the opinions of various institutional, private and NGO stakeholders, approached by CSD researchers, on the situation of victims, as regards their access to legal aid and advice. A number of recommendations are given as to the improvement of the legislative and practical framework of legal aid to victims. The national report on legal aid for victims of crime was prepared within the framework of the Improving Protection of Victim’s Rights: Access to Legal Aid initiative.

Recommendations for Reinforcing Criminal Justice in Border Districts: Status and Measures Taken

Препоръки за укрепване на правосъдието и правоприлагането в граничните райони: статус и предприети мерки

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The publication presents measures – legislative, organizational and technical – taken for enhancing justice and law enforcement in the districts close to the Bulgarian-Turkish, Bulgarian-Macedonian and the Southern Black Sea borders.