Bulgarian President Radev vetoes amendments to Bar Act
Bulgarian President Roumen Radev said on September 20 that he vetoed parts of the bill to amend the Bar Act, passed by the National Assembly earlier this month.
In his motives, Radev said that he was vetoing some of the provisions in the riders amending the civil procedure and tax codes, arguing that some of the changes breached European law.
Specifically, Radev argued in his motives that allowing bar associations to set the size of fees owed to special court representatives was against free market rules and risked limiting competition.
Separately, the limits on objections to legal costs as part of a trial could “unjustifiably reduce access to justice,” Radev said.
Bulgaria’s constitution grants the head of state a limited power of veto, through enabling the President to return legislation to the National Assembly for further discussion.
The National Assembly may overturn the President’s veto through a simple majority vote or accept the veto and review the vetoed clauses. Since taking office in January 2017, Radev made liberal use of the power and this was his 37th vetoed bill.
The National Assembly overturned the veto on all but seven occasions – six times the veto was accepted by MPs and, in the other case, the government coalition at the time failed to muster the support needed to overturn it.
(Photo: president.bg)
Please support independent journalism by clicking on the button below. For as little as three euro a month or the equivalent in other currencies, you can support The Sofia Globe via patreon.com and get access to exclusive subscriber-only content:
