NResolved: The statute of limitations for sexual offenses and child abuse is extended to 35 yearsaccepting on second reading amendments to The Criminal Code. The current term is 20 years.
The upper limit of punishments for such crimes is also increased.
The opposition objected to the preservation of the lower one – of 2 years, as it allows suspended sentences, and to the increase of the limitation period, as in practice proving guilt after so many years is extremely difficult. Grozdan Karadjov from ITN reminded that the prosecutor’s office has already stated in the Legal Commission that they will not deal with such a norm.
“Instead of dealing with empty propositions,
in which to invent some 50-year limitation periods in which criminal prosecution can be resumed, let us depend on the lower limits. Then there will really be prevention. Or we just want to create an opportunity to rekindle this very modern MeToo movement here. None of the cases that were taken up in this mass campaign led to a conviction, but they led to ostracized, to canceled people,” commented Karadjov.
According to the former Minister of Justice Atanas Slavov from PP DB, it is normal for the statute of limitations for such crimes to be longer and this is the practice that is imposed in most countries.
“It’s a heightened form of protection
for the truly most vulnerable persons in our society – minors. They need that protection. And for their part, the investigating authorities need the necessary time to gather evidence, which is, of course, difficult when the crime was committed back in time,” commented Slavov.
Source: BNR
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