site.btaParliament Passes Judicial System Act Amendments on Second Reading

Parliament Passes Judicial System Act Amendments on Second Reading

Sofia, July 26 (BTA) - Passing second-reading amendments to the Judicial System Act, Bulgaria's Parliament Tuesday resolved that the Inspectorate with the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) will perform integrity and conflict of interest checks of judges, prosecutors and investigating officers. The Inspectorate is to carry out inspections of the property statements of magistrates, as well as checks into acts harming the reputation of the judicial system and acts related to harming the independence of the judges, prosecutors and investigating officers.

The Inspectorate is required to draw up an annual schedule of planned checks and an annual performance report which is to be presented at the SJC plenum. The annual report is to be published on the Inspectorate's website.

The amendments increase the number of tenured administrative staff at the Inspectorate.

Administrative heads of the judicial system bodies are required to present information to the Chief Inspector and inspectors vis-a-vis the acts they undertook in respect of each alert or suggestion made to them by the Inspectorate.

The passed provisions introduce yet another requirement to the SJC members, according to which a member may not be a person in respect of whom conflict of interest was established with a decision enforced less than a year prior to the election as a SJC member.

The new provisions also require from the SJC plenum to create and maintain an electronic public register of all projects having as their subject the functioning of the judicial system bodies and implemented by professional organizations of judges, prosecutors and investigating officers.

Parliament adopted a procedure for the election of jurors. Five months before the end of the term of office of incumbent jurors, the Municipal Councils located in the judicial district of the respective court are to announce - in a local daily newspaper, in electronic media, on the website of the respective municipality and municipal council - the opening of a procedure for the election of jurors and the rules under which it is to be conducted.

Any Bulgarian national aged between 21 to 68 years with at least secondary education, who has not been convicted of a premeditated crime, does not suffer from a mental disease and has a current address of residence in a municipality in the respective judicial district, may put up their name for juror. A juror may not be a person who is a municipal councillor, who participates in the leadership of a political party, coalition or an organization with political purposes, or who works in a court, prosecuting office, investigative bodies, the Interior Ministry or other national security authorities.

Candidate jurors are required to provide a motivation letter and contact information about two persons whom the municipal councils may approach for references. At least ten per cent of the candidate jurors invited to a hearing are to be with qualifications in the area of pedagogy, psychology and social work.

The municipal councils - at a public meeting and with a majority of more than half of the present members - appoint the candidate jurors who are proposed for election by the general meetings of the district and appellate courts; and in Sofia, by the general meeting of the appellate specialized criminal court.

Jurors' term of office is reduced from five to four years. A person may not be elected juror for two successive terms in the same court. For the time when the jurors perform their functions and obligations, they will receive remuneration from the budget of the judicial system.