NATIONAL LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS CONCERNING DEFENDANTS AND PERSONS DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY WITH INTELLECTUAL AND/OR PSYCHOSOCIAL DISABILITIES IN LAW AND IN PRACTICE that the assessment pertains to, data from the psychological research, professional analysis and conclusions.114 It is not the goal of forensic assessments to lead to recommendations for appropriate measures to provide support to the vulnerable person during the criminal proceedings. Since 2020 all performed assessments are subject to registration, documentation and storage.115 The procedure for registration and the requirements for the qualification of experts is regulated by Ordinance No. H-1 of 14 February 2023 on the registration, qualification and remuneration of experts, issued by the Ministry of Justice.116 The Ordinance defines a number of requirements and procedures for the selection and approval of experts, which must guarantee their professional skills and independence.117 The expert witness directories are approved by a commission comprised of the chairpersons of different levels of courts in the regions. However, the Criminal Procedure Code does not mandate that only expert witnesses selected from the Expert Witness Directory be appointed as forensic experts. According to Article 147 of the CPC the only requirement for forensic experts is that they are specialists in the respective field of science, art or engineering, and Art. 148, para. 1, lists a number of exceptions to that requirement – however, not being registered in the expert witness directory is not among those exceptions barring professionals from serving as forensic experts. There are several fundamental shortcomings related to expert witnesses - the lack of major and detailed legislative act about their work; the current situation of lack of assessment of their knowledge/quality of the work; the scarce number of expert witnesses; their uneven distribution in the country; the low remuneration and their dependence on the body ordering the assessment. The forensic psychiatric assessments of persons placed under civil involuntary treatment under the Health Act are performed according to another Ordinance, issued by the Minister of healthcare and Minister of justice on 31 May 2005.118 Bulgaria, Decree #2 of 26.10.2011, Art. 28. Bulgaria, Decree #2 of 26.10.2011, Art. 6. 116 Bulgaria, Ordinance No. H-1 of 14 February 2023 on the registration, qualification and remuneration of experts, issued by the Ministry of Justice, available at: https://dv.parliament.bg/DVWeb/showMaterialDV.jsp;jsessionid=BCA823F24D5299CFEC26069F29C1E8C4?idMat=186961. 117 Bulgaria, Ordinance No. H-1 of 14 February 2023, Art. 7. (1) A legally capable person who meets one of the following requirements can be approved as an expert: 1. holds an academic position - “associate professor” or “professor” in higher schools, scientific organizations or the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; 2. has a higher education with a master’s degree and has at least 5 years of experience in the specialty; 3. has a higher education with an acquired educational and qualification degree “bachelor” and has at least 7 years of experience in the specialty; 4. has secondary education and at least 10 years of experience in the specialty; 5. is an employee of the Ministry of the Interior and has completed special training at the Academy of the Ministry of the Interior or the National Institute of Criminalistics of the Ministry of the Interior; 6. is a doctor with a recognized specialty in forensic medicine, a doctor without such a specialty who works in the structure of a medical institution carrying out activities in forensic medicine, a doctor with another medical specialty or a doctor in dental medicine. (2) The person under para. 1 must also meet the following conditions: 1. not have been convicted of a crime of a general nature; 2. not be deprived of the right to exercise a profession or activity; 3. not to carry out functions of administration of justice in the judicial system; 4. to have a permanent residence permit in the Republic of Bulgaria, if the person is not a Bulgarian citizen or a citizen of the European Union, of a state party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, or of the Swiss Confederation; 5. to be entered in the relevant register of persons possessing a certain profession, legal capacity or qualification, when such entry is required by law; 6. to possess a diploma, certificate, license or other document issued by a higher school, professional organization or institution pursuant to law, which document certifies the existence of the relevant qualification or legal capacity. 118 Bulgaria, Ordinance 16 of 13 May 2005 for forensic psychiatric assessments for involuntary treatment of persons with mental disorders, issued by the minister of healthcare and minister of justice (Наредба 16 от 13 май 2005 за събедно-психиатричните експертизи за задължително настаняване и лечение на лица с психични разстройства, издадена от министъра на здравеопазването и министъра на празвосъдието), available in Bulgarian at: https://www.ciela.net/svobodna-zona-normativi/view/2135504229/naredba-%E2%84%96-16-ot-13-may-2005-g-za-sadebno-psihiatrichnite-ekspertizi-za-zadalzhitelno-nastanyavane-i-lechenie-na-litsa-s-psihichni-razstroystva. 114 115 36 SLAVKA KUKOVA