The European Commission referred Bulgaria to the Court of Justice of the European Union. This was announced by the EC. The reason for this is that our country has not announced what measures it has taken to transpose the Victims’ Rights Directive into its national legislation.
The deadline for this to be done expired on November 16, 2015. In January 2016, the Commission sent an official notification letter to Bulgaria, and in 2019 – a reasoned opinion.
The EC insists that a financial sanction be imposed on Bulgaria.
All victims of crime in the EU should receive appropriate information, support and protection, and be able to participate in criminal proceedings. Victims of crimes should receive respectful treatment, tact, understanding, professionalism, without any discrimination, from everyone who comes into contact with them, the European Commission explains.
The EC launched seven criminal proceedings against Bulgaria
Our country has two months to indicate what measures it has taken
The Victims’ Rights Directive is the most important instrument at EU level, which applies to all victims of crime. The directive came into force in 2015. Since then, the directive has had a positive impact on victims’ right to access information and improved victims’ access to support services.
In 2019, the EC opened 25 infringement proceedings against Member States for incomplete transposition of the Victims’ Rights Directive. As of November 2023, all infringement proceedings have been closed, with the exception of Bulgaria.
