site.btaSofia Regional Court Judges Protest in front of Supreme Judicial Council HQ

Sofia Regional Court Judges Protest in front of Supreme Judicial Council HQ

Sofia, December 9 (BTA) - Several hundred Sofia Regional Court (SRC) judges protested Friday in front of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) headquarters, demanding the resignation of Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov.

The judges also complained about the check of the Regional Court ordered earlier this week, and the opening of disciplinary proceedings against judge Miroslava Todorova. The alert against Todorova came from Tsatsarov and was occasioned by a delay in pronouncing a judgment at the request of the prosecution for revealing bank confidentiality.

The SRC Wednesday protested on Facebook at frequent checks by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), claiming they are used as an instrument to encroach on the court's independence. 

The SRC, Bulgaria's largest court with the greatest workload, said on Facebook that often the checks were not underpinned by principles and thus did not lead to analysis and constructive decisions. The SRC does not receive much needed institutional support from the SJC to find solutions to problems dating from several decades ago.

The court recalled that the Judicial Council refused to give a hearing to its President about the fully stretched judges of the SRC, which puts them at a disadvantage compared to other judicial bodies. "When the SRC asked for buildings and money for equipment, and alerted the SJC to problems with jurors, the SJC did nothing," the court said.

SRC President Metodi Lalov told journalists that he had handed in his resignation as of February 1, 2017. Lalov and other protesting judges met with members of the SJC judges college.

Lalov said his resignation aims to show the SJC that it cannot in anyway threaten the leadership of the Regional Court. He added that he will leave his position in 2017 because there still is a lot of work and he cannot take the liberty to resign now. With Friday's protest the judges protested vocally in favour of independence.
   
SJC member Kalin Kalpakchiev pointed out that there are several proposals to be tabled before the judges college. The first is revisions to the classifier of positions in the court administration. The others are related to the urgent extension of funds and human resources to complete the SRC system and announce procedures for the relocation of judges from other courts to the SRC.

SJC member Sonya Naidenova said this could be done next week and she could propose solutions to at least part of the problems.