News

19 November 2025

Ombudsman Velislava Delcheva and Deputy Ombudsman Maria Filipova had a working meeting with Senior Assistant Dr. Blagorodna Makeva, representing the research team working on the criminological study Criminal Law Protection and Prevention of Domestic Violence commissioned by the Criminal Research Council with the Ministry of Justice.

At the meeting, Dr. Makeva presented the targets, scope and results so far of the study directed by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Svetlin Antonov from the Criminal Law Department of the Angel Kanchev University of Rousse. The project includes a wide range of polls and interviews with members of the institutions involved to fight domestic violence – police authorities, prosecutors, judges, lawyers, forensic medics, social workers and psychologists.

The meeting discussed issues related to the improvement of institution-to-institution coordination, effective protection of victims and the need to strengthen the tools of protection. Blagorodna Makeva presented the training of cadets at the Academy of the Ministry of Interior in subjects such as “Protection against domestic violence”, “Protection of human rights”, “Police ethics” and “Rights of the child”, developed jointly with UNICEF Bulgaria.

Velislava Delcheva emphasized that domestic violence had been a focus of the Ombudsman Institution for many years. Active work was under way to pass the now existing legislation and to improve measures to protect victims. The Ombudsman and the Deputy Ombudsman noted that work is ongoing in close cooperation with NGOs and experts in this field, with efforts focused to ensure a more effective institutional response and steady prevention policies.

The Ombudsman Institution declared willingness to submit expert opinions and recommendations to be incorporated into the final report on the study and reiterated its commitment to the protection of fundamental human rights and to the fight against domestic violence.