RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN POLICIES RELATED TO CRIME VICTIMS IN BULGARIA

1. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN POLICIES RELATED TO CRIME VICTIMS IN BULGARIA Prof. DobrinkaChankova, PhD South-West University, Bulgaria JSPS Fellow, Tokiwa University The 13th International Symposium on Victimology, Mito, Japan, 23-28 August 2009

2. Bulgaria Acountry in South-Eastern Europe, situated on the Balkan Peninsula, to the west of the Black Sea. Area -110,994 sq km (42,855 sq mi). Population- 7 000 000 The capital and the largest city is Sofia. One of the newest European Union members- since 01/01/2007

3. Bulgaria on the map of Europe

4. Crime victims in Bulgaria Have only recently received due attention from policy makers and legislators Most of the newest government acts were related to the negotiations and accession process of Bulgaria to the European Union Since 1 January 2007 Bulgaria applies the EU legislation and try to follow the European and international standards for crime victim protection

5. New Penal Procedure Code (2006) Influenced by the European Union Council Framework Decision of 15 March 2001 on the Standing of Victims in Criminal Proceedings For the first time regularizes the procedural status of the injured party in a separate chapter The injured is entitled of specific rights both in pre-trial and court procedures

6. Basic rights of the injured in the pre-trial procedure to be notified of his/her rights in the penal procedure; to receive protection of his/her safety and his/her close persons; to be informed about the course of the penal procedure; to participate in the procedure; to appeal the acts which lead to disclosure or suspension of the penal procedure; to have a trustee

7. Injured party in the court procedure The injured could be constituted as: a private prosecutor a private complainant a civil claimant High status in the criminal proceedings, not only a witness

8. Private prosecutor in comparative aspect referred as accessory prosecutor maintains the indictment at the same time with the public prosecutor may also maintain the indictment after the prosecutor declares that he/she does not maintain it ( in comparative aspect explained as subsidiary prosecutor)

9. Rights of the private prosecutor to become acquaint with the case and to make the necessary extracts; to submit evidence; to participate in the court procedure; to make requests, notes and objections and to appeal the acts of the court, where his/her rights and legitimate interests are harmed

10. Private complainant in comparative aspect explained as private prosecutor may bring and maintain indictment before the court the complaint shall be submitted within six-month periodfrom the day, when the injured learned about the commitment of the crime

11. Rights of the private complainant to become acquaint with the case and to make the needed extracts; to submit evidence; to participate in the court procedure; to make requests, notes and objections to appeal the acts of the court, where his/her rights and legitimate interests are harmed, to withdraw his/her complaint

12. Civil claimant The injured and his/her heirs, as well as the legal persons who suffered damages from the crime, may file a civil claim for compensation of the damages The civil claim in the court procedure may be filed as against the defendant, as well as against other persons, who shall bear civil liability for the damages caused by the crime.

13. Rights of the civil claimant to participate in the court procedure; to require securitising of the civil claim; to become acquaint with the case and to make the needed extracts; to submit evidence; to participate in the court procedure; to make requests, notes and objections and to appeal the acts of the court, where his/her rights and legitimate interests are harmed.

14. Some deficits Both in the legal regulation and implementation The injured is excluded from the procedure of the settlement of the case by the agreement between the public prosecutor and the defender/counsel of the accused (plea bargaining)

15. Some deficits There are not enough efficient procedural mechanisms for the full implementation of the stipulated rights Because of the low rate of detection of crime and of sentenced persons a significant part of the victims cannot avail themselves of their rights in accordance with the relevant procedure

16. Support and compensation to crime victims in Bulgaria Council of the European Union Directive 2004/80/EC of 29 April 2004 relating to compensation to crime victims Law on Support and Financial Compensation to Crime Victims 2006 Objective of the Law - recognition and guaranteeing the rights and the lawful interests of the crime victims, according to the European and international standards.

17. Scope of the law psychological, legal, health etc. support and assistance financial compensation from the state, although rather limited support and financial compensation may be granted to the victims, who have suffered damages from the following crimes:

18. Scope of the law (cont.) terrorism; deliberate homicide; deliberate serious bodily harm; sexual molestation and rape, as a result of which serious health damages have been caused; traffic of people; other serious deliberate crimes as a result of which death or serious bodily harm have been caused as corpus delicti consequence

19. Scope of the law (cont.) support may be be granted to victims, who have suffered material and non-material damages by the mentioned types of offences financial compensation may be granted to victims, who have suffered material damages (non-material damages maybe granted only “by justice’ by the court) support and financial compensation are granted by the state to victims of crime - Bulgarian citizens or citizens of Member States of the European Union

20. Scope of the law (cont.) Compensation may be granted by the State if the crime victim has not received such compensation in any other way. The compensation is granted after coming into effect of: the conviction sentence the prosecutor’s or judicial act, by virtue of which the penal proceedings have been terminated (with some exceptions) ; the prosecutor’s or judicial act, by virtue of which the penal proceedings have been suspended due to non-detection of the perpetrator of the crime

21. Scope of the law (cont.) The financial compensation comprises, jointly or separately, the material damages, being direct consequence of the crime, which are in the form of: expenses for treatment, except for the expenses paid by the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund; missed income; expenses for payments of court and office expenses; missed financial resources for maintenance; funeral expenses; other material damages

22. Informing crime victims of their rights A special chapter (two) of the Law Legal obligation of the bodies of the Ministry of Interior and the victim support organizations to notify the victims of : -the organizations the victims can turn to for free psychological help and support - the types of free psychological help and support

23. Informing crime victims of their rights (cont.) - the right of legal support - the bodies which they may address in order to exercise this right - the terms and the procedure of providing legal support for free; -the bodies, before which signals for the crime committedmay be filed, etc.

24. Implementation of the law National Council for Compensation of Crime Victims, established in 2007, is the body competent to consider the applications for financial compensation Working meetings – periodically, small number of applications approved, symbolic compensation, received too late sometimes http://www.compensation.bg.

25. Implementation of the law 2009 data ( towards 17 July ) 50 applications received 13 applications approved 44 000 BGN ( approximately 22 000 EUR ) spent Total budget: 1 000 000 BGN ( approximately 500 000 EUR )

26. Bulgaria on the road to restorative justice Mediation Act (2004) Subject of mediation shall be civil, commercial, labour, family and administrative disputes related to rights of consumers and another disputes between natural and/or legal persons. Mediation shall be performed as well as in the cases envisaged in the Penal Procedure Code.

27. Bulgaria on the road to restorative justice Despite the explicit requirement of the Mediation Act, the Penal Procedure Code of 2006 did not provide for any cases where victim-offender mediation could be applied and left this issue to subsequent amendments Although the existing legislation does not specifically refer to mediation or any other out-of-court method for settlements between the victim and the offender, it gives an opportunity for the application of these methods.

28. Bulgaria on the road to restorative justice RJ was introduced in the curricula of many of the Bulgarian universities NGOs have started and successfully implemented trainings of mediators, judges, prosecutors and other professionals in the field. According to recent surveys, restorative justice enjoys wide support among criminal justice practitioners and society at large.

29. Conclusion Nevertheless some positive developments can be pointed out, a lot still have to be done for the full implementation of the UN Declaration of Basic Principle of Justice on Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power and the other universal and European instruments for victim of crimes protection in Bulgaria.

30. Thank you for your attention !!!