On 12 May, the Execution Department organised a meeting with representatives from the Ministry of Justice of Bulgaria. The discussions focused, in particular, on the authorities’ work aimed at the implementation of judgments related to the systemic problem of ineffective criminal investigations, including the lack of guarantees for their independence concerning the Chief Prosecutor and other high-ranking officials close to him or her (S.Z. and Kolevi cases). Discussions also tackled the need to ensure follow-up of the Bulgarian Government’s road map of August 2021 for the execution of ECHR judgments, so as to implement without further delay these judgments, many of which are pending before the Committee of Ministers for more than five years.
