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The duplication of offenses and administrative offenses in the current legislation was a highlight of the meeting of the Council on the implementation of the updated strategy for the continuation of the reform in the judicial system, held at the Ministry of Justice today under the chairmanship of Minister Krum Zarkov

Krum Zarkov was born on November 21, 1982. He graduated from the 9th French language high school "Alphonse de.

"It is necessary to jointly recommend specific measures to solve this serious problem", the minister was categorical and added that a detailed inquiry was made about the overlapping of these compositions and the spectrum is wide - from copyright to postal services.

"Legislation is also a political process, in order for it to be effective, the issue to be resolved must be clearly stated, and the Ministry of Justice is committed to this," emphasized the minister.

Duplication is unacceptable, Council members agreed and outlined the measures.

A working group with the participation of qualified external experts is being created in the Ministry of Justice to propose criteria for "screening" crimes and violations through an addition to the Penal Code (PC), the Council decided.

The relevant ministries and institutions will be invited to give opinions and proposals for solving the problem of duplication of punishments and violations in their spheres, within a certain period.

And the minutes of today's meeting will be sent to the people's representatives and the political forces.

The measures were marked under the item: "Discussion of the implementation of the Concept for a new criminal policy for the period 2020-2025, adopted by the Council of Ministers on May 11, 2020." Among the measures in it is a review of administrative offenses included in the system of the Criminal Code, as well as avoiding duplication of criminal and administrative offenses, the press center of the Ministry of Justice announced. 

The NGOs that will participate in the Judicial Reform Council have been determined

The Council for Judicial Reform includes representatives of the SJC, the Supreme Courts, the Prosecutor's Office, the Inspectorate of the SJC, the High Bar Council, the NIP, the professional associations of magistrates, as well as the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Vice Prime Minister for European Funds Management and non-governmental organizations.

Two of the authors of the Concept were present at the ministry today - Prof. Plamen Panayotov and lawyer Daniela Dokovska.

Prof. Panayotov pointed out that the overlapping of criminal and administrative offenses is present in dozens of cases.

He indicated the "minor case" and the degree of public danger of the act as criteria for judging when the committed is a crime and when it is an administrative violation.

Duplication is constitutionally intolerable, it undermines the equality of citizens before the law and gives rise to corruption, lawyer Dokovska was categorical.

"There is no rule of law when citizens are prosecuted differently for the same acts," she pointed out.

Council members were also briefed on the highlights of the Report on European Judicial Systems - Edition 2022 (2020 data): efficiency and quality of justice of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice of the Council of Europe (SEPEJ).

Krum Zarkov

judicial reform