Administrative justice

· PARLIAMENT has approved the first reading of an Administrative Procedure Bill, which will allow out-of-court settlements in administrative justice proceedings.
According to the bill, which was approved on November 9, such settlements may be sought between the interested party and the administrative body that took the action that led to litigation. Under current legislation, out-of-court settlements are allowed only in civil and criminal cases. National Movement Simeon II MP Anelia Mingova said that the new law would prescribe setting up administrative courts, "something new for Bulgaria that fits in with the country's constitutional pattern".
Within nine months after the future Administrative Procedure Code is promulgated, the Supreme Judicial Council will determine the number of regional administrative courts, the places where these courts will be seated and the regions under their jurisdiction, and appoint judges to the courts.

Socialists to meet

· MARTIN Schulz, president of the parliamentary group of the Party of European Socialists (PES), will visit Bulgaria on December 2 and 3.
Schulz will open a conference organised with PES assistance and will address the delegates to the 46th congress of the Bulgarian Socialist Party on December 3.

Fishing rules

· PARLIAMENT has amended the Fisheries and Aquaculture Act, providing for fines from 100 to 300 leva for amateur anglers who catch trout in breach of a ban covering weekdays and fishing at night.
Amateur trout fishing is permitted only during daylight hours on weekends and holidays outside the breeding period.

Remembering 1989

· BULGARIAN democracy will very soon yield its real fruits and, as a result of the country's democratic development, Bulgarian citizens will be able to improve their lives, said Union of Democratic Forces leader Peter Stoyanov.
Commenting on the 16th anniversary of the fall of the Todor Zhivkov communist regime on November 10 1989, Stoyanov said that the events of November 10 "did not take place as a result of civil unrest or protest but were masterminded in the political laboratories of the then-Bulgarian Communist Party. This is why the Bulgarian transition could not cope for such a long time with organised crime".

Developing schooling

· THE Education Ministry is seeking broad public consensus on the development of secondary school education in the coming 10 years in Bulgaria, Education Minister Daniel Vulchev told a news conference in Plovdiv on November 12.
Vulchev attended a seminar on a programme to develop secondary school education 2006-2015.          
Education Ministry officials have identified two critical issues in the development of secondary school education, Vulchev said.
The first concerned dividing secondary school education into two stages. Between a quarter and one third of children in Bulgaria do not finish secondary school. This was why they should be given a chance to receive a diploma or occupational training certificate before grade 11 and 12.
The second issue was whether primary school should be completed after grade seven or eight. He said that tests to evaluate the knowledge of children, teachers and school directors would most probably be introduced next year.

Illegal computer programmes

· MORE than 300 court actions have been initiated in Bulgaria since 2000 on charges of illegal use of computer programmes owned by member companies of the Business Software Alliance (BSA). However, sentences have been imposed in no more than one-fifth of these cases, the BSA said on November 13.
The most frequent punishments in such cases were fines ranging between 500 and 1000 leva. Three sentences have been imposed this year, including a prison sentence with a probation period and fines of between 1000 and 1500 leva. The BSA said punishments rarely matched the seriousness of intellectual property crimes and their impact on the affected owners and on Bulgaria's economy and international prestige.

Rila Monastery head dies

· THE Abbot of the Rila Monastery, Bishop Ioan, died at age 80 on November 13 after a short illness, said the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
Bishop Ioan (secular name: Krustyu Nikolov) was abbot of the Rila Monastery between 1968 and 1970, and from 1988 until his death.

Pope meets Bulgarian bishops

· POPE Benedict XVI gave an audience to a group of three Bulgarian Catholic bishops on November 12 .
The Pope said Bulgaria could serve as an example of integration and peaceful coexistence of different cultural and religious communities. He asked the bishops to convey his greetings to the head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Maxim.
The Bulgarian Catholic bishops presented the Pope with an icon of Christ, and he presented them with a gold cross.

Iraq pullout

· BULGARIAN troops will leave Iraq one month after the start of the scheduled withdrawal.
"We'll do our best to pull out from the country by December 31 2005. However, this depends on the allies and most of all on the transport possibilities," said Defence Minister Veselin Bliznakov, according to a report by Focus news agency.
Asked about Bulgarian participation in peacekeeping in Iraq after the scheduled withdrawal of Bulgarian military personnel, Bliznakov said that there were several options: the presence of staff officers in Iraq, tuition of Iraqi students and military diplomats in Bulgaria, and sending military personnel to support humanitarian efforts.

New patrol vessel

· NOVEMBER 16 saw the official launch ceremony of a new border police patrol ship, Kavarna, incorporated in the fleet of the Interior Ministry.
This is the third and most recent such ship Bulgaria has received under a Phare project for the needs of the Bulgarian Border Police, said the director of the National Border Police Service, Major-General Valeri Grigorov.
In 2006 the Border Police will receive one more patrol ship that will be more than 100 tons, Grigorov said.

Becoming Bulgarian

· ABOUT 220 Macedonian citizens submit applications for Bulgarian citizenship every day, said Bulgaria's ambassador to Macedonia, Miho Mihov, according to a report in Bulgarian-language daily Standart.
About 20 Macedonians submit applications for Bulgarian citizenship in the Bulgarian consulate in Skopje every day. About 200 Macedonians submit applications to the Agency for the Bulgaria Citizens Abroad, which is headquartered in Bulgaria.
"Sometimes the procedure for granting Bulgarian citizenship to Macedonian citizens is obstructed by the fact that many of applicants lack documents certifying their origin," said Mihov.