site.bta Supreme Cassation Court President's Controversial Speech Will Not Be Investigated

Supreme Cassation Court President's Controversial Speech Will Not Be Investigated

Sofia, January 11 (BTA) - The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) will not conduct a check into the case of Supreme Cassation Court (SCC) President Lozan Panov's speech given during a celebration of the SCC's 135th anniversary, SJC Ethics Commission Chairman Yassen Todorov said on Monday. The Ethics Commission had been alerted to the case by a website.

Todorov added that a decision has been made to close the "Panov" case file because, as he put it, "the freedom of speech should not be restricted."

On December 11, following Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov's resignation over Parliament's failure to vote through constitutional changes regarding the distribution of the professional quotas of prosecutors and judges on the SJC, Panov said during a formal ceremony that the efforts put in hindering the judicial reform are understandable: "otherwise, citizens would have won back the state". Panov added: "We hear that it doesn't matter how the SJC and its colleges are elected because upcoming changes in various laws and codes are far more important for the judicial reform. This is a lie, and its constant repetition does not make it a truth." He said that because of his words he might be branded as "a terrorist plotting a coup". "If the Bulgarian oligarchy has its own state, then any attempt to deliver the state back to citizens can indeed be called 'a coup.'"

Earlier on Monday, Justice Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, too, expressed hope that the SJC Ethics Commission will not start disciplinary proceedings against Panov. The new Justice Minister made the comment after her first working meeting with part of the SJC members. She said every magistrate has the right to express his or her views as a citizen.

During her meeting with some SJC members, Zaharieva discussed planned Judicial System Act amendments and electronic justice. She said she hopes that the proposed amendments will be submitted to the National Assembly in March, so that all legal deadlines can be met.