When you are detained on remand, you have the right to regular review of the need to continue the detention.

Who?

In Bulgaria, you or your lawyer can ask the court to re-evaluate whether it is still necessary to continue your detention. The Code of Criminal Procedure explains who can initiate and conduct the review of your detention, when and how.

Participation

You have the right to be present at the hearing in front of the court and to explain your arguments as to why you should be released. Your lawyer must also be allowed to participate and help you at the hearing. But you may refuse to participate in the hearing, in which case only your lawyer will be present. If you do not understand and/or speak Bulgarian, the court has a duty to arrange a State paid interpreter during the hearing.

Reasoned decision

The court has to examine all the facts for and against your continued detention on remand. The judge must be very diligent in doing this. The court must issue a well-reasoned decision, especially if he or she has decided to continue to keep you on remand. This means that the decision must very clearly explain the grounds on which you will be kept detained and why that is still necessary at this stage of the proceedings. The reasons cannot be superficial, generic or repeat the same reasoning as in the previous detention reviews.

The longer you have been detained, the more thorough and well-founded the reasons for prolonging your detention should be.

If you do not understand Bulgarian, the court must provide you with a translation of the decision in a language that you understand.

Timely decision

Human rights require that the lawfulness of your detention must be decided speedily. It means that the court has to consider your application carefully and without unjustified delay. When making a decision on your detention, the court has to follow the time limits prescribed by the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Appeals

The Bulgarian law foresees a possibility of appealing this decision. You can appeal within three days to the upper court. The decision of the latter is final. The appeal does not prevent you from lodging another request for review at any time later unless in its decision the court sets a time limit for your subsequent request.

What human rights violation may there be?

If the review process was not made available to you or did not correspond to the given requirements, it may result in a violation of the right to liberty and security of a person.

Resources

Last updated 03/02/2019