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The mandate of this SJC should be terminated, Democratic Bulgaria suggests. PHOTO: ARCHIVE
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“Democratic Bulgaria” submitted
changes in the Judiciary Act
The mandate of the current Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) should be terminated, a new one should be elected within two months, and its future members should not stop working as magistrates.
This is what Hristo Ivanov and a group of MPs from Democratic Bulgaria are proposing. On Tuesday, they introduced changes to the Judiciary Act that affect the judiciary’s personnel body, the SJC.
The most important of them is that
new members
I will not
interrupt
your direct
work as judges,
prosecutors and investigators, but will work with a reduced workload. In addition, it is proposed that the career bonuses for the members of the SJC and the inspectors from the Inspectorate to the council be abolished.
The transitional and final provisions provide for a new election of council members within two months of the entry into force of the changes.
“The activity of the current Supreme Judicial Council will be terminated after the formation of new elections,” the project proponents point out.
The mandate
of the SJC, which
is five years old,
expires
October 3, 2022
Before that, however, the staff must elect a chairman of the Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC), because the term of his current boss, Lozan Panov, expires on February 10th next year.
The Constitutional Court (CC) must answer the question whether the Minister of Justice can request the removal of the Prosecutor General. This question of Prof. Yanaki Stoilov was reached because the current composition of the SJC is of the opinion that he does not have this right.
In the reasons for the proposal, the deputies say that until 2007 the elected members of the SJC, as well as those in law – the three big ones, continued to practice their other legal professions and this did not create any legal problem.
“After 2007, the SJC became permanent, with its members detaching themselves from their direct magistracy,” the petitioners said.
They added that “elected members of the SJC should retain their status as judges, prosecutors and investigators, as this is an essential guarantee that the judiciary will exercise its self-government by an independent body itself.”
Deputies point out that there were also practical considerations. “Separating judges, prosecutors and investigators from their direct work for five years is demotivating and as a result good professionals do not want to participate in the work of the personnel body,” said the deputies from Democratic Bulgaria.
According to them, the detachment of the staff from the consideration of the cases disqualified them, alienated them from the everyday problems of the judiciary, led to the formation of a specific bureaucratic culture. “This hinders the effective exercise of powers,” the deputies said.
Precisely because they are proposing that the members of the SJC retain their status as magistrates, the deputies also envisage dropping the text, according to which after the end of their term they can be reinstated to a position one degree higher than before the election. Ie it is proposed to drop the so-called career bonus for board members.
A serious change is also envisaged with regard to which court will hear cases for competitions, attestations and disciplinary proceedings.
Democratic Bulgaria proposes that this be done not before the Supreme Administrative Court, but before the Supreme Court of Cassation.
We are talking about all competitions – for junior magistrates, for initial appointment, for transfer and promotion, as well as for certifications and disciplinary proceedings. These cases are currently being considered by the Supreme Administrative Court. (24 hours)
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