Bulgaria's Ombudsman, Konstantin Penchev, said he will be very careful when approaching the Constitutional Court. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency
Bulgaria’s Ombudsman Konstantin Penchev said he will approach the Constitutional Court only for cases of violated basic human rights.
In an interview for the Bulgarian National Television on Monday, Penchev was asked whether he will approach the Constitutional Court for the nationalization of the personal pension contributions of people working heavy jobs.
“I will be very careful towards the Constitutional Court, which has already stated that the ombudsman can attack only laws, but not other acts of the National Assembly, and only those which are related to basic human rights,” Penchev said.
He added that he will make serious research before approaching the court, in order to avoid being returned as his predecessor.
The Bulgarian Ombudsman also expressed hope he will be invited to the Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly for the discussion of the draft on forfeiture of property acquired through criminal activity, which envisions the possibility of confiscation even without a conviction.
“I am afraid that this law has good intentions but would somehow end up with the investigation of the property of one person, and not another,” Penchev said.
He also commented on the removing of illegal constructions. In his opinion, there has to be an individual approach to every single case.
“The problem could not be solved like this – we have an order and we demolish it. It is one thing when we are talking about a golf house, which would one day maybe accommodate someone, and a totally different thing is a roof of a house of elderly people, which has covered them for 50 years. We cannot leave people on the streets,” Penchev said.