AUGUST 2012
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13
The influence of the executive branch on the judicature is politically convenient for the ruling politicians, which greatly impedes the introduction of subsequent changes. Nonetheless the current situation in courts could be improved by taking seriously the constitutional principles of “separation of and balance between” powers, which are breached these days. The above analysis reveals that a major part of the existing regulations concerning the judicial system has been copied by the Third Republic of Poland from the PRP and has become a point of reference for the new statutory and non-statutory provisions. Notably, those who came to power after 1989 did not see the need to change the fundamentals of court operations, and decided to introduce only some subtle changes, while at the same time making use of legal prerogatives of the former system, which contradicts the rule of separation of powers, by giving excessive authority to the executive branch.
Pioneering Public-Private Partnership Provisions Protect Public Ivo Emanuilov BLC Student Sofia
On 15th June 2012 the Act on Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) was promulgated in the State Gazette, issue no. 45. The Act will come into force on 1 st January 2013. It provides for the terms and conditions for realising PPPs. Long-awaited by businesses in Bulgaria, the new Act sets high aims, which include: to provide development of high quality and accessible services of public interest by achieving best value from the invested public means, to give opportunity for encouragement of private investments in construction, maintenance and management of sites of technical and social infrastructure and in carrying out activities of public interest and to create guarantees for protection of public assets and for effective management of the public means while realizing PPPs. PPP is defined as a long-term contractual cooperation between one or more public partners and one or more private partners for carrying out activity of public interest. According to the Act, public interest activities are provision or ensuring provision of one or more services of public interest through financing, construction, management, maintenance of car parks, garages, city transport infrastructure, monitoring and security systems, street light systems, green parks, parks and gardens etc. Some commentators argue that the Act on PPP also brings with it a lot of unresolved issues which have to be scrutinised and settled. Businesses hope that the new legislation will provide an adequate legal framework to regulate the increasing number of investment projects and hence that it will facilitate partnerships built upon ‘long-term cooperation’.