site.btaJudicial System Act Revisions Pass on Second Reading

Judicial System Act Revisions Pass on Second Reading

Sofia, July 27 (BTA) - The National Assembly passed amendments to the Judicial System Act on second reading Wednesday. The revisions were proposed by the government and were adopted despite the strong opposition of magistrates' associations.

Under the amendments, magistrates will be required to disclose their affiliation with organizations, including secret or informal organizations and societies.

The new requirement applies to all judges, prosecutors, investigators, members of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and the SJC Inspectorate to submit the respective disclosure declaration to the competent college of the SJC within a month of taking office.

The two SJC colleges, of prosecutors and of judges, will keep a public register of the declarations.

Justice Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva suggested that the requirement for disclosure of the affiliation with secret or informal organizations be broadened to apply to the government members and MPs.

Judges, prosecutors and investigators will submit two-part declarations of their property and interests to the SJC Inspectorate. When the declared circumstances change, they will have to submit a new declaration.

On the request of Parliament or on his own initiative, the Prosecutor General will submit to the legislature reports on the work of the prosecuting magistracy.

Before April 30 of every year, the Prosecutor General will submit to the SJC plenum an annual report on the work of the prosecuting magistracy and the investigative bodies.

The SJC plenum, in coordination with the Justice Minister, will be in charge of building and maintaining a web portal for electronic justice, the MPs resolved.

The conclusively approved amendments also require judicial bodies to make certificatory statements, issue instruments and carry out all other legally prescribed procedural actions in electronic form. At the start of a judicial procedure, an electronic case will be instituted in the information system of the respective judicial body.

Under another amendment, a judge, a prosecutor or an investigator may be posted to another place for up to 12 months upon their prior written consent. In extraordinary circumstances, they may be posted without their consent for up to three months.

A further amendment reduces from six to three months the maximum duration of a suspension of an elected SJC member, a judge, a prosecutor, an investigator, an administrative leader or deputy leader when they face proceedings for disciplinary dismissal from office.

The law now clearly defines the conditions for various types of attestation (preliminary, periodic, for indefinite tenure, or extraordinary) and the specific criteria for assessing the performance of judges, prosecutors and investigators. It also brings more clarity about the work of the Attestation Commission and the recruitment competitions for each SJC college.

Internships towards a law practitioner's licence will be conducted in two stages: basic and professional.

The Penal Procedure Code will be amended to the effect that a prosecutor serving with a higher-level prosecution office may revoke or change an order issued by a prosecutor in a lower-level prosecution office if the order has not been considered in a court procedure. The order is appealable before a higher prosecution office.

Summing up the approved amendments, Justice Minister Zaharieva said: "We have started profound changes in the judicial reform; they meet the public demand for a fair judicial system. The broad consensus gives me confidence that the reform will be brought to completion. The amendments adopted today have a direct bearing on the quality of justice, because you cannot have quality justice without quality magistrates."