3.1.2 NATIONAL FRAMEWORK CONCERNING DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY Bulgarian legislation regarding the compulsory treatment proceedings86 contains no guarantee that the court will ensure compliance with the minimum standards for the right to legal assistance, which are applicable to every single person from the EU - these are the directives on the right to information, the right of access to a lawyer, to legal aid and to translation. This is why the EU court in case C467 from 2018 ruled that the Bulgarian Criminal Procedure Code, which provides for control by the court on whether the person’s rights were respected in the pre-trial phase, the prosecutor despite the requirements, that he himself decided to terminate the proceedings, should prove to the court that the person committed the crime but the proceedings are terminated because the perpetrator is disabled and crminally irresponsible. It was accepted that the Bulgarian Criminal Procedure Code does not meet these requirements. It has been 2 and a half years since the decision of the EU court until today. I am not yet aware of any legislative initiative to amend the Criminal Procedure Code.87 Another judge explains the possible reasons for this phenomenon: In practice, the disabled person is not accused and the pre-trial proceedings are terminated directly. He is not notified about the decree terminating the pre-trial proceedings. When the proceedings are terminated, there is a statutory period for appeal and the person can initiate such proceedings. But this is not done. Instead a proposal for compulsory treatment under Art. 89 of the Criminal Code is directly submitted to the court by the prosecutor. Perhaps because of the prosecutors’ misunderstanding of the nature of this main criminal proceeding itself, which precedes the protective treatment proceedings, and that the right to legal defense of the disabled person must be guaranteed.88, 89 Because the above described procedure is not respected by the prosecutors the Sofia District Court the judge states that in these cases he terminates the compulsory treatment proceedings and returns them to the prosecutor, in order to remedy the substantial procedural violations, which significantly limited the right of defense of the disabled person.90 happened, to defend him/herself, to remain silent if he/she so wishes, to be informed of what he/she is suspected. The Bulgarian Criminal Code, Article 94, paragraph 1, point 2, provides that accused persons who suffer from disabilities that prevent them from defending themselves, should use a lawyer’s defense, but they must first become accused. The Bulgarian procedural law does not recognize the figure of a suspect and therefore it depends arbitrarily on the will of the investigator or the prosecutor whether he/ she will give the person the status of accused, so that he/she can enjoy his/her rights. 86 Proceedings authorising, on therapeutic and safety grounds, the committal to a psychiatric hospital of persons who, in a state of incompetence, have committed acts representing a danger to society to which procedural rights and the principle of innocence should apply. 87 Bulgaria, Interview with District Court judge V.C. on 13 May 2022. 88 Bulgaria, Interview with Sofia District Court judge V.K. on 9 June 2022. 89 Bulgaria, Interview with Sofia District Court judge V.K. on 9 June 2022. In order the right to legal assistance of the disabled person to be ensured the proceeding should be done in the following way: when the person is accused, a mandatory legal assistance must be appointed; the prosecutor must explain to the accused (in accordance with the decision of Court of Justice of the European Union - C 467 of 2018) in accessible, gentle language and in an accessible, sparing manner, that this pre-trial proceeding is pending and may be discontinued, and that the termination of the pre-trial proceeding may be subject to review by a court in which he can file a complaint, he can participate in the proceedings (that’s why a public defender is appointed to him) and this must be recorded in some way - either with a declaration or with a specific decree of the prosecutor. If the prosecutor has done this, he should serve the accused person a copy of the decree through the lawyer or in person. The deadline for appeal should be awaited, possibly for this termination decree to enter into force or for the relevant instance control to be carried out, and only then a motion for compulsory treatment should be submitted. 90 Bulgaria, Interview with Sofia District Court judge V.K. on 9 June 2022. The judge presented some of his cases showing this tendency – criminal case 15165/2019, criminal case 7009/2020, criminal case 3967/2020, criminal case 11061/2020 of the Sofia District Court. Bulgarian Helsinki Committee 31