site.btaAnother Judge Withdraws from Belvedere Case

Another Judge Withdraws from Belvedere Case


Sofia, December 29 (BTA) - Sofia City Court judge Plamen Kolev
recused himself from a bankruptcy case against two subsidiaries
of France's Belvedere Group, the court said on Monday.
Explaining Kolev's withdrawal, the court invoked a Civil
Procedure Code provision about the impartiality of judges.

Kolev had taken up the case after the withdrawal of another
judge, Roumyana Chenalova. The bankruptcy case against the two
Belvedere subsidiaries was at the centre of a scandal as French
Ambassador Xavier Lapeyre de Cabanes accused judge Chenalova of
mishandling the case and expressed doubts about the manner in
which it had been allocated to her.

After the scandal flared up, the Supreme Judicial Council
decided to order a more reliable computerized system to be
developed for random assignment of legal cases to judges.

A new judge will be appointed on Tuesday to handle the Belvedere.