In recent years, Bulgaria has taken several steps to improve its integrity framework and reinforce the stability and resilience of its public governance framework. Among these measures, taken in the face of domestic and international criticism about the effectiveness and efficiency of its anti-corruption framework, Bulgaria has sought to develop its institutional framework and capabilities and to enhance authorities’ abilities to seize corrupt assets. To this end, in 2023, Bulgaria restructured its anti-corruption authority, the Commission for Anti-Corruption and Illegal Asset Forfeiture (CACIAF), into two new organisations: the Commission for Anti-Corruption (CAC) and the Commission for Illegal Asset Forfeiture (CIAF). The aim was to empower the new authorities through a renewed mandate, and to clarify their responsibilities and powers, enabling them to prevent and combat corruption more effectively.
While the restructuring is a milestone in building a comprehensive integrity system, there are nonetheless lessons to be learned from the previous structure. This report aims to support Bulgaria’s reform journey in two ways. First, the report draws lessons from the development and implementation of the former anti-corruption authority’s 2022-2024 Strategic Plan, to help the CAC and CIAF understand where improvements can be made in future strategic and organisational planning. The OECD will help the CAC and CIAF apply these lessons in future strategies through ongoing work with both authorities. Second, in line with the recommendations to develop a more stringent and cohesive strategic framework, the report explores legal and institutional avenues to allow CIAF to recover and manage illegally acquired assets more efficiently and effectively. In particular, it provides recommendations for improving proceedings on asset forfeiture, legal reforms on criminal and civil procedure codes, and a practical guide for updating their current investigation instructions. Overall, the report recognises the ambition of the reforms Bulgaria has recently made in a challenging political context and makes suggestions for how these efforts could be enhanced in the future.
The project was funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the OECD under the PGC integrity and corruption work programme, in co-operation with the European Commission.
The report was approved by the Public Governance Committee on 3 January 2025 and prepared for publication by the Secretariat.