We are inundated with signals about various schemes used by the property mafia, which requires law enforcement agencies to do their job and apply the maximum severity of the law, a commitment that was also made by the Prosecutor General. This was said by Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev during a hearing in the Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, BTA reports.
He added that a working group will examine the schemes of the property mafia and what legislative changes are needed.
The minister was also asked about the Regulation on the Payment of Legal Aid in Remuneration. He said that the work on the draft amendment has been completed, but the problem is not normative, but financial. In his words, a lawyer who is called in the middle of the night about a victim of domestic violence cannot be expected to take on the case for 30 leva and rely on quality legal work.
Georgiev added that the legal aid fund is 10 million leva and work is being done to update the fees, discussions are underway with the bar. Georgiev explained that it is planned that after the adoption of the ordinance, it will begin to operate with a deferred effect until funds for the increase are provided.
Before the hearing, the legal committee adopted two bills on first reading to amend and supplement the Law on the Protection of Persons Filing Signals or Publicly Disclosing Information about Violations. One bill was submitted by Kiril Petkov and a group of MPs on December 12, 2024, and the other - by the Council of Ministers on December 30, 2024 and are related to expanding the protection of individuals.