site.btaSofia City Court President's Resignation Accepted Unanimously

Sofia, September 26 (BTA) - The Judges' College in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC-JC) voted unanimously (11-0) on Tuesday to accept the resignation of Sofia City Court (SCC) President Kaloyan Topalov both as court leader and as a judge.

In his bid to resign, submitted by mail a few days ago, Topalov did not name any reasons. He had three years left of his term in office.

SJC-JC members made various comments on the resignation. Kalin Kalpakchiev said Topalov should be decorated, but the proposal was supported by only five votes and did not pass. Lozan Panov said Topalov's reasons for his decision remain unclear. According to Panov, the SCC has accomplishments, but they need to be sustained. He finds that having to elect a new SCC president yet again is a cause for concern. Georgi Kolev said he has not watched the SCC's work very closely, but noted that the resignation was a personal decision.

Galya Georgieva described as "arrogant" Topalov's statement that he has finished his work. "Work never ends, there is always more to do in the SCC," Georgieva argued. She denied allegations that the SCC has come under too much scrutiny from inspectors. "This is normal, given the situation in the court," she said.