Предсъдебният доклад в процеса по определяне и индивидуализация на наказанието пробация

The article discusses issues related to the nature, content, procedures for the preparation and submission of the pretrial report and its legal significance. The possibility of the Court to require from the probation service a pretrial report, with a view to the determination of suitable probation measures on particular criminal case was introduced with the adoption of ESGDA (prom. SG. Issue 25 of 2009). The pretrial report is considered controversial in all European countries. Attitude towards its existence varies from full acceptance as an essential part of the identifying and individualization process of the panalty and probation measures, trough limiting its application only to certain assumptions, and in the extreme - until its complete denial in the legislation of significant number of countries. Not all legislations accept the decision, the probation service to make recommendations to the Court, concerning the nature and extent of the penalty to be imposed on the defendant as part of the pretrial report. The above mentioned conclusions indicate that there are a number of controversial issues, related to the pretrial report, which should find a scientifically based answer. The Bulgarian legislator has adopted a pretrial report by the provisions of the new ESGDA (publ. SG. Issue 25 of 2009) and its legal framework was further developed through the regulations for the application of ESGDA (publ. SG. Issue 9 of 2010). That legislation outlines the characteristics and the mode of the pretrial report in the Republic of Bulgaria. According to the Bulgarian law, the probation administration has its principal place in the identification and individualization process of the penalties, which results in the performance, by its employees, of the obligation to prepare pretrial reports at the request of the Court.