site.btaProsecutor General Lends Partial Support to Amendments to Constitution, Judicial System Act, Supreme Administrative Court Insists on Grand National Assembly

Prosecutor General Lends Partial Support to Amendments to Constitution, Judicial System Act,
Supreme Administrative Court Insists on Grand National Assembly

Sofia, June 30 (BTA) - At a hearing on Tuesday before the
National Assembly Ad Hoc Committee in charge of proposed
amendments to the Constitution, Bulgaria's Prosecutor General
Sotir Tsatsarov supported part of the revisions, including more
rigorous accountability of the prosecuting magistracy and of
the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) Inspectorate and a shortening
of the SJC term in office from five to four years.

Tsatsarov opposes the abolition of voting by secret ballot at
the SJC meetings which, in his words, is a democratic form of
voting. He does not approve, either, of the Justice Minister
having an advisory vote at the meeting of the SJC chambers.

Representatives of the presidential institution declared
themselves in favour of the proposed constitutional amendments.
The President backs the Council of Ministers' efforts to carry
out the judicial reform as a key priority. Rosen Plevneliev sees
the proposed amendments as an important step towards judicial
reform, on which this country's democratic development depends.
The head of State calls on the MPs to support the will for
reform and argues that an ordinary National Assembly is
competent to amend the Constitution.

Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov also backed the draft revisions,
adding that his Ministry will propose streamlined versions of
some clauses during the debate. Ivanov pointed out that the
proposed amendments should be viewed as a basis for reorganizing
the model according to which the judiciary is administrated.
According to the Justice Ministry, the amendments can be voted
by an ordinary National Assembly, and they are basically
intended to provide a better guarantee of the independence of
the court.

Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) President Georgi Kolev
presented the court's position that was made public on Monday.
The SAC argues that a Grand National Assembly alone is competent
to amend the Constitution, and that the proposed amendments
impair the independence of the judiciary.

"The Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) supports the proposed
amendments to the Constitution," SCC President Lozan Panov said
at the hearing before the Ad Hoc Parliamentary Committee. Panov
pointed out that earlier on Tuesday, a SCC Plenum considered the
matter and that the idea to divide the SJC into two chambers
was approved with the largest majority.

The proposals are also supported by the Supreme Bar Council,
provided that they fall within the competence of an ordinary
National Assembly, the Council's President Ralitsa Negentsova
said. The Council, however, have proposals for adjustments of
the proposed amendments.

The SJC did not submit a categorical position to the members of
the Ad Hoc Committee but presented three separate opinions.