Balgarianovinite.com The parliamentary ad hoc committee on legal affairs on Thursday approved at first reading a bill on tackling corruption among public office holders, by a 20-2 votes and no abstentions. The bill was submitted by the caretaker cabinet on April 30.
The bill envisages the establishment of a five-member Anti-Corruption Commission, with one of its members being elected by the National Assembly, one being appointed by the President of the Republic, one each being elected by the general assemblies of the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court, and one being elected by the Supreme Bar Council. The Commission is to serve a single five-year term in office, and its members will rotate annually as chairperson. Once every six months, the Commission will account for its performance before Parliament and will also present an annual activity report.
The Anti-Corruption Commission will be competent to lodge appeals before the court against a prosecutor’s refusal to institute pre-trial proceedings. Judicial review of the termination and stay of pre-trial proceedings investigated by Commission employees will be mandatory.
Committee chair Yanka Tyankova said that the bill is being adopted under urgent conditions in order to safeguard payments under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Lyubomir Talev from the legislative council with the Ministry of Justice explained that the extension granted by the European Commission has a deadline of May 31 this year, and the deadline for promulgation in the State Gazette is June 5. “If we do not adopt the law now, the funds will have to be returned to the budget,” Talev added. According to him, a one-month period is foreseen after the law’s adoption for the institutions to conduct the selection procedures.
“Our parliamentary group will support the bill. It is not new; it is 90% identical to the one we proposed and adopted in 2023, and it is an extremely important law for Bulgaria in terms of payments and commitments under the Resilience and Recovery Plan,” said Raya Nazaryan of GERB–UDF.
“This law largely repeats the previous anti-corruption law, which existed for less than two and a half years and did not lead to a fight against high-level corruption,” said MP Petar Petrov from Vazrazhdane. According to him, the bill does not guarantee political independence or the avoidance of opportunities for influence. He added that the positive aspect is the newly introduced mandatory judicial review in cases of termination of pre-trial proceedings.
“We will support the proposed bill. The texts are largely not new, but we fully share the proposed method for forming the commission,” said Nadejda Iordanova from Democratic Bulgaria. She noted that they support the proposal for checks on persons holding high-ranking positions.
“The bad practice does not give us grounds to reject this bill and lose the funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan,” said Elena Noneva from Progressive Bulgaria. She emphasized that the bill provides for the possibility of judicial review.
“We will definitely support the bill. Last year we already warned that dissolving the commission was a mistake,” said Stoyu Stoev from We Continue the Change. Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee Approves at First Reading Bill on Tackling Corruption of Public Office Holders 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-05-14 16:22:16 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
