A SEVEN million dollar system designed to help fight crime by acting as a clearing house for information held by the judiciary and law enforcement agencies is being developed, with the hope of implementing it at the end of next year.
But doubts have been expressed about whether all the agencies meant to be involved will co-operate with the system, with fears being expressed that they will jealously guard their turf and the information they hold.
And there is a shortfall in funding for the project, leading to a public appeal to foreign governments, multilaterals, and other potential donors.
At a presentation last Thursday, hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria, Justice Minister Anton Stankov said the system, called the Unified Information System Against Crime (UISAC), would greatly facilitate criminal proceedings.
It would improve interaction among various authorities, and by so doing, aid the efficiency of the judicial system, thus improving the business climate and helping to combat corruption.
The system would promote the transparency and accountability of court proceedings, Stankov said.
He acknowledged there were divergent interests and insufficient resources, which would be obstacles to operating the system, but believed these could be overcome.
Vladislav Slavov, president of the Supreme Administrative Court, said more should be done to set up a statutory basis for operating the system.
Such a legal basis would be required to ensure that those meant to feed data into the system would do what they were told, Slavov said.
"Some agencies meant to be maintaining the database oppose the idea," he said.
USAIC's basic tasks include the compilation of current and biographical information about individuals subject to criminal proceedings. The system is not meant to serve the needs of any individual agency, but rather to act as a "suprainstitutional" entity uniting the efforts of the judicial, legislative and executive branches of government.
Participants in the system will be the ministries of the interior, justice and defence (in regard to the military police), the customs branch of the Finance Ministry, the prosecutors' office, and the National Investigative Service.
Its benefits are expected to include a reduction in procedural irregularities, and improved monitoring of crime tendencies. Special data protection has been designed to prevent leaks from the system.
A series of tasks have to be carried out to complete the stages of implementation scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, a phase which is projected to cost about $2.8 million. Full implementation of the system, scheduled for the end of next year, will cost $7.1 million. Exact details of the size of the shortfall have not been disclosed.
On an optimistic note, Minister of State Administration Dimiter Kalchev told the AmCham meeting that by acting as information clearing house, USAIC could present a model for a national data exchange system.
But doubts have been expressed about whether all the agencies meant to be involved will co-operate with the system, with fears being expressed that they will jealously guard their turf and the information they hold.
And there is a shortfall in funding for the project, leading to a public appeal to foreign governments, multilaterals, and other potential donors.
At a presentation last Thursday, hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria, Justice Minister Anton Stankov said the system, called the Unified Information System Against Crime (UISAC), would greatly facilitate criminal proceedings.
It would improve interaction among various authorities, and by so doing, aid the efficiency of the judicial system, thus improving the business climate and helping to combat corruption.
The system would promote the transparency and accountability of court proceedings, Stankov said.
He acknowledged there were divergent interests and insufficient resources, which would be obstacles to operating the system, but believed these could be overcome.
Vladislav Slavov, president of the Supreme Administrative Court, said more should be done to set up a statutory basis for operating the system.
Such a legal basis would be required to ensure that those meant to feed data into the system would do what they were told, Slavov said.
"Some agencies meant to be maintaining the database oppose the idea," he said.
USAIC's basic tasks include the compilation of current and biographical information about individuals subject to criminal proceedings. The system is not meant to serve the needs of any individual agency, but rather to act as a "suprainstitutional" entity uniting the efforts of the judicial, legislative and executive branches of government.
Participants in the system will be the ministries of the interior, justice and defence (in regard to the military police), the customs branch of the Finance Ministry, the prosecutors' office, and the National Investigative Service.
Its benefits are expected to include a reduction in procedural irregularities, and improved monitoring of crime tendencies. Special data protection has been designed to prevent leaks from the system.
A series of tasks have to be carried out to complete the stages of implementation scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, a phase which is projected to cost about $2.8 million. Full implementation of the system, scheduled for the end of next year, will cost $7.1 million. Exact details of the size of the shortfall have not been disclosed.
On an optimistic note, Minister of State Administration Dimiter Kalchev told the AmCham meeting that by acting as information clearing house, USAIC could present a model for a national data exchange system.
