The statute of limitations for sexual offenses and assaults against children is increased to 35 years. This was decided by the parliament, adopting in the second reading amendments to the Penal Code. The current term is 20 years. The upper limit of punishments for similar crimes is also increased.
The opposition objected to the retention of the lower - of 2 years, as it allows suspended sentences, and to the increase of the statute of limitations, as in practice proving guilt after so many years is extremely difficult.
Grozdan Karadjov from "There is such a people" reminded that the Prosecutor's Office has already stated in the Law Commission that they will not deal with such a norm.
"Instead of dealing with hollow propositions, inventing some 50-year statute of limitations in which prosecutions can be resumed, let's raise the lower bounds. Then there will really be prevention. Or we just want to create an opportunity here to rekindle this very modern #MeToo movement. "None of the cases that were taken up in this massive campaign led to a conviction," Karadjov commented.
According to the former Minister of Justice Atanas Slavov from the PP-DB, it is normal for the statute of limitations for such crimes to be longer and this is the practice imposed in most countries.
"This is an increased form of protection for the truly most vulnerable individuals in our society – minors and minors. They need that protection. And the investigative bodies need the necessary time to gather evidence, which is difficult when the crime was committed back in time," Slavov pointed out.