site.btaSupreme Judicial Council Sends to Justice Ministry Objections to Judiciary Act Revisions

Supreme Judicial Council Sends to Justice Ministry Objections to Judiciary Act Revisions

Sofia, June 14 (BTA) - A day after Justice Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva lashed out against the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for refusing to support any of her Ministry's proposals for changes in the Judiciary Act and urged them to present their objections, the SJC did that and set out their proposals for re-writing the proposed revisions. This transpired Tuesday in a Bulgarian National Television (BNT) debate between two SJC members, Kalin Kalpakchiev and Nezabravka Stoeva.

The specific proposals of the SJC were not immediately clear.

Stoeva argued that supporting the Ministry package would have been "the beginning of a society with elements of dictatorship".

Kalpakchiev said the ideas behind the Ministry's package are in the right direction and will bring about a positive change in the way the judiciary is administered as it concerns key areas including the status of judges, access to justice and the qualities of magistrates.

Justice Minister Zaharieva commented Monday that the SJC decision of last week to reject the entire package of proposed Judiciary Act revisions put a stain on the image of Bulgaria and the progress of a judicial reform desired by the magistracy and by the Bulgarian people.

Her take on the situation is shared by the President of the Supreme Cassation Court (SCC), Lozan Panov, who said Tuesday in a statement that the SJC torpedoes the whole package of changes and the judicial reform as a whole. The reform-minded SCC President said he will soon be ready with his own position on the proposed changes.

Panov sees a link between the SCJ's position and the fact that Parliament is about to go into summer recess and that presidential elections are coming up this autumn.