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BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part one. GENERAL RULES
Chapter two. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
Art. 12.
(1) The court procedure shall be competitive.
(2) The parties in the court procedure shall have equal proceedings rights, except the cases as provided in this code.
BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part one. GENERAL RULES
Chapter two. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
Art. 15. (1) The accused shall be entitled to defence.
(2) The accused and the other persons participating in the penal procedure shall be provided with all procedural remedies necessary for the defence of their rights and legitimate interests.
(3) The court, the prosecutor and the investigating bodies shall make clear to the persons under Para 2 their procedural rights and shall provide them with the possibility to exercise those rights.
(4) The injured person shall be provided with the needed procedural remedies for the defence of his/her rights and legitimate interests.
BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part one. GENERAL RULES
Chapter two. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
Presumption of innocence
Art. 16. The accused shall be considered innocent until the conclusion of the penal proceedings with an effective sentence establishing the contrary.
BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part one. GENERAL RULES
Chapter two. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
Art. 17 (2) No person may be detained for more than 24 hours without the permission of the court. The prosecutor may direct detainment of the accused till he/she is brought before the court.
(3) The respective body shall immediately notify a person, named by the detained, about the detainment.
(4) If the detained is a foreign citizen, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall be informed immediately about the detainment.
(5) The court, the prosecutor and the investigating bodies must release every person who has been unlawfully deprived of freedom.
BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part one. GENERAL RULES
Chapter two. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
Art. 21. (1) The penal procedure shall be conducted in the Bulgarian language.
(2) The persons, who do not speak Bulgarian language, may use either their native or another language. In such case, an interpreter shall be appointed.
BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part one. GENERAL RULES
Chapter two. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
Art. 22. (1) The court shall hear the cases within a reasonable term.
BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part one. GENERAL RULES
Chapter seven. ACCUSED
Section I. General Provisions
Art. 55. (1) The accused shall have the following rights: to learn for which crime he/she is involved in this capacity and on the base of what evidence; to give or to refuse to give explanations about the accusation; to become acquaint with the case, including with the information obtained by usage of special intelligence devices and to make the necessary extracts; to submit evidence; to participate in the penal procedure; to make requests, notes and objections; to make statements last; to appeal the acts which harm his/her rights and legitimate interests; to have a defender. The accused shall have the right of participation of his/her defender in the performance of all of the actions of investigation and other procedural actions with his/her participation, except if he/she abandons explicitly this right.
BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part one. GENERAL RULES
Chapter seven. ACCUSED
Section II. Restraining Measure and Other Measures of Procedural Compulsion
Art. 63. (4) The detention in custody in the pre-trial proceeding shall not last for more than one year, if the charge is for a major malicious crime and for more than two years, if the charge is for a crime for which a punishment of not less than fifteen years of imprisonment or life imprisonment is provided. In all the rest of the cases, the detention in custody in the pre-trial proceeding shall not last for more than two months.
BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part one. GENERAL RULES
Chapter seven. ACCUSED
Section II. Restraining Measure and Other Measures of Procedural Compulsion
Art. 65. (3) The case shall be set down for hearing within three-days period following its receipt into the court and shall be heard in open session with the participation of the prosecutor, the accused and his/her defender. The case shall be tried in the absence of the accused, if he/she states that he/she does not want to appear or his/her bringing before the court is impossible for health reasons.
BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part one. GENERAL RULES
Chapter ten. LEGAL ASSISTANCE
Section I. Defender
Art. 93. (1) The defender shall be selected and empowered by the accused, except in the cases as provided in this code.
BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part one. GENERAL RULES
Chapter ten. LEGAL ASSISTANCE
Section I. Defender
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Art. 99. (1) The defender shall have the following rights: to meet alone with the accuses; to become acquaint with the case and to make the needed extracts; to submit evidence; to participate in the penal procedure; to make requests, notes and objections and appeal the acts of the court and of the pre-trial procedure which harm the rights and the legitimate interests of the accused. The defender shall have the right to participate in the all actions of investigation with the participation of the accused, but his/her absence shall not establish obstacle for their performance.
(2) The participation of the defender shall not be an obstacle for the accused to exercise his/her rights under Art. 55 by him/herself.
BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part two. EVIDENCING
Chapter eleven. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Art. 103. (1) The burden to prove the indictment in cases of general nature shall fall onto the prosecutor and the bodies of investigation, and in cases instituted on a complaint of the injured – onto the private complainant.
(2) The accused shall not be obligated to prove innocence.
(3) Conclusions against the accused, due to he/she did not give or refuses to give explanations or did not prove his/her objections, shall not be made.
BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part two. EVIDENCING
Chapter thirteen. PROOFS
Section II. Voice Proofs
Art. 115. (1) The accused shall render his/ her explanations orally and directly before the respective body.
Reasons shall be rendered in the presence of a counsel, where the accused so requests. The request shall be entered in the record and the counsel shall be summoned for the interrogation.
(2) The accused shall not be interrogated on commission or by video-conference, except in the cases, where he/she is abroad and where this will not impede the revealing of the objective truth.
(3) The accused shall be entitled to give explanations at any time of the investigation and of the court investigation.
(4) The accused shall be entitled to refuse to give reasons.
BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part two. EVIDENCING
Chapter fourteen. METHODS OF EVIDENCING
Section II. Interrogation
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(3) The interrogation of the accused shall start by a question of he/she does understand the accusation and shall be invited, if he/she wishes, to state in a free-text all what he/she knows under the case.
BULGARIA - PENAL PROCEDURE CODE
Part two. EVIDENCING
Chapter fourteen. METHODS OF EVIDENCING
Section II. Interrogation
Art. 142. (1) Where the accused does not speak Bulgarian, an interpreter shall be appointed.
(2) Persons referred to in Art. 148, Para 1, items 1 – 3 shall not act as interpreters.
(3) In case of non-appearance or refusal to perform the task assigned, the interpreter shall be liable as provided under Art. 149, Para 5.
(4) Where the accused is deaf or dumb, an interpreter of information shall be appointed.
(5) The provisions of Para 2 and 3 shall apply accordingly to the interpreters of information.
Article 55
Rights of persons during an investigation
1. In respect of an investigation under this Statute, a person:
(a) Shall not be compelled to incriminate himself or herself or to confess guilt;
(b) Shall not be subjected to any form of coercion, duress or threat, to torture or to any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
(c) Shall, if questioned in a language other than a language the person fully understands and speaks, have, free of any cost, the assistance of a competent interpreter and such translations as are necessary to meet the requirements of fairness; and
(d) Shall not be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention, and shall not be deprived of his or her liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedures as are established in this Statute.
2. Where there are grounds to believe that a person has committed a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court and that person is about to be questioned either by the Prosecutor, or by national authorities pursuant to a request made under Part 9, that person shall also have the following rights of which he or she shall be informed prior to being questioned:
(a) To be informed, prior to being questioned, that there are grounds to believe that he or she has committed a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
(b) To remain silent, without such silence being a consideration in the determination of guilt or innocence;
(c) To have legal assistance of the person's choosing, or, if the person does not have legal assistance, to have legal assistance assigned to him or her, in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment by the person in any such case if the person does not have sufficient means to pay for it; and
(d) To be questioned in the presence of counsel unless the person has voluntarily waived his or her right to counsel.
Article 63
Trial in the presence of the accused
1. The accused shall be present during the trial.
2. If the accused, being present before the Court, continues to disrupt the trial, the Trial Chamber may remove the accused and shall make provision for him or her to observe the trial and instruct counsel from outside the courtroom, through the use of communications technology, if required. Such measures shall be taken only in exceptional circumstances after other reasonable alternatives have proved inadequate, and only for such duration as is strictly required.
Article 66
Presumption of innocence
1. Everyone shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty before the Court in accordance with the applicable law.
2. The onus is on the Prosecutor to prove the guilt of the accused.
3. In order to convict the accused, the Court must be convinced of the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.
Article 67
Rights of the accused
1. In the determination of any charge, the accused shall be entitled to a public hearing, having regard to the provisions of this Statute, to a fair hearing conducted impartially, and to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality:
(a) To be informed promptly and in detail of the nature, cause and content of the charge, in a language which the accused fully understands and speaks;
(b) To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of the defence and to communicate freely with counsel of the accused's choosing in confidence;
(c) To be tried without undue delay;
(d) Subject to article 63, paragraph 2, to be present at the trial, to conduct the defence in person or through legal assistance of the accused's choosing, to be informed, if the accused does not have legal assistance, of this right and to have legal assistance assigned by the Court in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment if the accused lacks sufficient means to pay for it;
(e) To examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him or her and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his or her behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him or her. The accused shall also be entitled to raise defences and to present other evidence admissible under this Statute;
(f) To have, free of any cost, the assistance of a competent interpreter and such translations as are necessary to meet the requirements of fairness, if any of the proceedings of or documents presented to the Court are not in a language which the accused fully understands and speaks;
(g) Not to be compelled to testify or to confess guilt and to remain silent, without such silence being a consideration in the determination of guilt or innocence;
(h) To make an unsworn oral or written statement in his or her defence; and
(i) Not to have imposed on him or her any reversal of the burden of proof or any onus of rebuttal.
2. In addition to any other disclosure provided for in this Statute, the Prosecutor shall, as soon as practicable, disclose to the defence evidence in the Prosecutor's possession or control which he or she believes shows or tends to show the innocence of the accused, or to mitigate the guilt of the accused, or which may affect the credibility of prosecution evidence. In case of doubt as to the application of this paragraph, the Court shall decide.