site.btaPresident of Specialized Court Perceives Presence of Tendency Whereby Court's Decisions Are Unnecessarily Revoked by Higher Instance Court

President of Specialized Court Perceives Presence of Tendency Whereby Court's Decisions Are Unnecessarily Revoked by Higher Instance Court

Sofia, March 31 (BTA) - President of the Specialized Court
Georgi Oushev said that a tendency exists whereby some judges of
 the Appellate Specialized Court revoke decisions of the lower
instance court without errors made in them. Oushev spoke at a
news conference Tuesday where a report of the Specialized Court
was presented.

Oushev said that he did not consider it normal whereby more than
 90 per cent of the acts of some judges of the Appellate
Specialized Court are for returning the respective case. In 2014
 16 of the acts of the first instance court were returned by the
 higher instance, ten were revised and 17, revoked. The Supreme
Court of Cassation returned for consideration anew only one case
 of the Specialized Court, Oushev said.

In 2014, the Specialized Cour resolved 91 cases, 33 of which
ended with convictions, and 58, with agreements. Twenty-three of
 the verdicts were guilty, and ten were acquittals. A total of
172 persons were convicted, against 65 in 2013, Oushev said. The
 acquitted persons were 40, against 16 in 2013. The most common
penalty, "deprivation of liberty," was in the form a prison
sentence of up to three years. Four people were sentenced to
between 10 and 30 years behind bars.

The biggest case of the Court contained 1,140 volumes. Eighteen
of the cases considered by the Court in 2014 were longer than
100 volumes. Two cases were conducted against more than 20
defendants, one against 42, and one, against 43.

In 2014 the Specialized Court issued 1,011 permits for special
surveillance means and refused the issuing of 23 permits. The
permits issued in 2013 were 550, and the refusals, nine.