site.btaBill Amending the Constitution Is Approved by Ad-hoc Committee

Bill Amending the Constitution Is Approved by Ad-hoc Committee

Sofia, September 2 (BTA) - The ad-hoc committee in charge of discussing the Bill Amending and Supplementing the Constitution approved the Bill for submission to the plenary hall for first-reading discussions. Ten of the committee members supported the Bill, while two voted against.

The committee members, who opposed the Bill, were Chavdar Georgiev from BSP Left Bulgaria and Luchezar Nikiforov from ABV. Nikiforov explained that his party supports in principle the reform of the judiciary but does not approve of the approach for its implementation.

Reformist Bloc (RB) MP Atanas Atanassov said that the Bill is not what his coalition wanted and that the judicial system needs a far more radical reform. Yet, since the main RB proposal - about the separation of the Supreme Judicial Council into two colleges - has been accepted, the Bill is a small but important step towards the judicial reform, he added.

Yavor Haitov from Bulgaria without Censorship said his party will support fully the Bill.

In the meantime, Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov defined the committee decision as an important intermediary step. However, he noted that many others should follow: about the electronic justice and legal education. It is fully up to the MPs to decide whether there should be changes in the Bill between the first and second-reading discussions.
Minister Ivanov said that the political time is running out and there should be clear results by January 2016, when the European Commission is expected to release its next report on Bulgaria.