The work of Bulgarian Criminal Asset Forfeiture Commission (CAFC) lacked efficiency because of competence limitations in the law, CAFC head Professor Stoyan Koushlev said on November 29.
“The law should be changed and give more rights to the CAFC in order to achieve good results,” Koushlev told a forum organised by the Centre for the Study of Democracy entitled Criminal Asset Recovery: Irish and Bulgarian Experience. John O'Mahony, chief bureau officer of Ireland's Criminal Asset Bureau and Ireland's ambassador Geoffrey Keating were present at the forum.
“We don't need to change the entire legislation and the penal code, just the law about the activity of the CAFC,” Koushlev said.
“One of the big problems is that we can not take serious actions, until we have a final conviction issued by the court. Because in Bulgaria we have a three court system ( regional, district and appeal courts) the entire process slows down our work immensely and I think that we can amend the law and make an exception for the CAFC work and introduce a two court system, the way it is in Ireland for example,”.
For the period since the CAFC was formed, in 2006, not a single final conviction has been ruled by the court, he said. “I expect that the first rulings could become a fact early next year,”. Indeed the CAFC has frozen funds for about 88 million leva, but until we have the final word from the court nothing more can be done about the person and his assets, Koushlev said.
Author: Petar Kostadinov
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