site.btaAppellate Specialized Prosecution Office Criticizes Closure of Specialized Jurisdictions under Draft Amendments to Judicial System Act
ESD 13:11:01 11-02-2022
LG1308ES.113
113 HOME AFFAIRS - APPELLATE SPECIALIZED PROSECUTION - COMMENT
Appellate Specialized Prosecution Office
Criticizes Closure of Specialized Jurisdictions
under Draft Amendments to Judicial System Act
Sofia, February 11 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Appellate Specialized Prosecution Office (ASPO) said on Friday that it had sent the Justice Ministry a negative opinion on draft legislation amending and supplementing the Judicial System Act which provides for the closure of the specialized jurisdictions.
The opinion, signed by ASPO Administrative Head Ivaylo Angelov, will be copied to the European Commission and the European Parliament in connection with the European Rule of Law Mechanism.
The document notes that within several years they were established, the specialized jurisdictions "earned substantial international recognition", among other things as taking credit for the progress in combating international crime, which has been acknowledged in the European Commission's reports under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.
"The closure of specialized justice will be a mistake that cannot be corrected later on," Angelov argues. In his opinion, a law closing down a court would be unconstitutional. The ASPO chief adds that a serious analysis is needed of the achievements and shortcomings so far as well as of the impact of the closure on combating organized crime and corruption, ''especially at places where there are local interdependencies, vested interests, etc."
"Magistrates are on the receiving end of all criticism about slow justice, but the root cause is precisely the excessive formality and the abuse of procedural rights by the accused and the defendants and, often, by their defence lawyers, too," the prosecutor points out. In his words, the efforts to increase the effectiveness of criminal justice should target serious actions to purge the Criminal Procedure Code of unnecessary formality rather than opening or closing judicial authorities, replacing magistrates and transferring cases from one court to another. According to Angelov, the formality in the law results in chronic overwhelming of the preliminary proceedings authorities and the court.
* * *
The first-instance Specialized Criminal Court was set up in 2011 to try organized crime offences, and its jurisdiction was later on expanded to cover corruption offences as well. The instruments issued by the Specialized Court are subject to intermediate appellate review before the Appellate Specialized Criminal Court. This structure is parallelеd by a Specialized Prosecution Office and an Appellate Specialized Prosecution Office.
Democratic Bulgaria, which is part of the government coalition and whose representative Nadezhda Yordanova is Minister of Justice, prioritizes a judicial reform in which a closure of the specialized courts and prosecution offices figures prominently. The coalition argues that specialized jurisdictions have been used as "bludgeons" by the Boyko Borissov cabinets and that closing them is in every Bulgarian's best interest because there should be one law for all. RY/LG//
LG1308ES.113
113 HOME AFFAIRS - APPELLATE SPECIALIZED PROSECUTION - COMMENT
Appellate Specialized Prosecution Office
Criticizes Closure of Specialized Jurisdictions
under Draft Amendments to Judicial System Act
Sofia, February 11 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Appellate Specialized Prosecution Office (ASPO) said on Friday that it had sent the Justice Ministry a negative opinion on draft legislation amending and supplementing the Judicial System Act which provides for the closure of the specialized jurisdictions.
The opinion, signed by ASPO Administrative Head Ivaylo Angelov, will be copied to the European Commission and the European Parliament in connection with the European Rule of Law Mechanism.
The document notes that within several years they were established, the specialized jurisdictions "earned substantial international recognition", among other things as taking credit for the progress in combating international crime, which has been acknowledged in the European Commission's reports under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.
"The closure of specialized justice will be a mistake that cannot be corrected later on," Angelov argues. In his opinion, a law closing down a court would be unconstitutional. The ASPO chief adds that a serious analysis is needed of the achievements and shortcomings so far as well as of the impact of the closure on combating organized crime and corruption, ''especially at places where there are local interdependencies, vested interests, etc."
"Magistrates are on the receiving end of all criticism about slow justice, but the root cause is precisely the excessive formality and the abuse of procedural rights by the accused and the defendants and, often, by their defence lawyers, too," the prosecutor points out. In his words, the efforts to increase the effectiveness of criminal justice should target serious actions to purge the Criminal Procedure Code of unnecessary formality rather than opening or closing judicial authorities, replacing magistrates and transferring cases from one court to another. According to Angelov, the formality in the law results in chronic overwhelming of the preliminary proceedings authorities and the court.
* * *
The first-instance Specialized Criminal Court was set up in 2011 to try organized crime offences, and its jurisdiction was later on expanded to cover corruption offences as well. The instruments issued by the Specialized Court are subject to intermediate appellate review before the Appellate Specialized Criminal Court. This structure is parallelеd by a Specialized Prosecution Office and an Appellate Specialized Prosecution Office.
Democratic Bulgaria, which is part of the government coalition and whose representative Nadezhda Yordanova is Minister of Justice, prioritizes a judicial reform in which a closure of the specialized courts and prosecution offices figures prominently. The coalition argues that specialized jurisdictions have been used as "bludgeons" by the Boyko Borissov cabinets and that closing them is in every Bulgarian's best interest because there should be one law for all. RY/LG//
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