In its capacity as a member state of the European Union and the Council of Europe Bulgaria supports completely the expected accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights. This was the statement of the President of the Bulgarian National Assembly Tsetska Tsacheva made on 20th September 2012 at the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments in Strasbourg. She has added that the accession will contribute further to the system of human rights protection in Europe.

The President of the National Assembly delivered a presentation on the theme of the conference titled: “The future of the European Court on Human Rights – the role of the national parliaments “.

Tsetska Tsacheva noted that Bulgaria is aware of the complexity of the issues concerning the EU joining the Convention. She underscored that Bulgaria adheres to the opinion that the accession process should follow the approach of preserving the system of the Convention as a whole, allowing for only few amendments and supplements to be made for the sake of the accession. In her words the remaining at the moment unsolved issues should find acceptable solutions for all countries.

The future of the European Court of Human Rights requires the drawing of a strict line between the competencies of the Court and the national authorities with regards to the application of the Convention on Human Rights and Basic Freedoms. She has stated that Bulgaria has the will to share the responsibilities of the EU parliamentarians for further strengthening of the system for human rights protection in Europe.

She noted that the National Assembly should become more active in ensuring the implementation of the Court’s rulings in which Bulgaria was defendant and said that her institution is following very closely the offences committed against the Convention outlined in the court’s decisions. As part of the measures adopted by the parliament in this respect she pointed out the amendments passed in the Judiciary Act in June 2012, which foresee an administrative mechanism for the collection of compensations by natural persons and legal entities in cases for prolonged against the law court proceedings. The amendment will take effect on October 1, 2012.
She mentioned the forthcoming amendments to the Liabilities of the State and the Municipality for Damage Act aimed at widening the scope of the law and which will make possible compensations for offences committed under the Convention to be obtained through legal process before the national courts. Tsetska Tsacheva pointed in her presentation to the considerable improvements in the detention practices and the fewer cases of police violence. She mentioned also the proposal of the leader of the Bulgarian Delegation to PACE proposing execution of ECHR rulings to be monitored by the national parliament. She said before the representatives of the conference that the Bulgarian parliament is about to adopt resolution requiring the Council of Ministers to present to the parliament an annual report commenting on the ECHR decisions against Bulgaria during the said year, as well as the measures taken by the competent authorities to implement them with comments on the difficulties encountered along the implementation. The Speaker of the Bulgarian parliament also said Bulgaria supports the principle of the “individual complaint” before the ECHR, but said the country is against the Court becoming a “forth instance” looking into the details of the case, considered already by the national courts.

The President of the National Assembly Tsetska Tsacheva has taken part in the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments in Strasburg. The key themes discussed at the forum were:” The future of the European Court on Human Rights – the role of the national parliaments“, “Is the Representative Democracy in Crisis? Challenges before the national parliaments” and the “Arab revolutions: challenges and opportunities”.

The Chair of the parliament Tsetska Tsacheva met with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Jean-Claude Mignon, within the framework of the conference. They discussed the fight against the organized crime and corruption in Bulgaria. The president of PACE gave high marks of the will and the efforts of the Bulgarian government for surmounting the problems in the dialogue between Bulgaria and PACE. Tsetska Tsacheva extended an invitation for Jean-Claude Mignon to visit Bulgaria.