site.btaJustice Minister Ivanov Schedules Extraordinary Meeting of Supreme Judicial Council on January 8

Justice Minister Ivanov Schedules
Extraordinary Meeting of Supreme Judicial Council
on January 8


Sofia, December 23 (BTA) - Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov
scheduled an extraordinary meeting of the Supreme Judicial
Council (SJC) on January 8, said the Justice Ministry in a
Tuesday press release.

On December 22, the Justice Ministry received a letter, signed
by 11 members of the SJC, proposing that Minister Hristov
convenes an extraordinary meeting of the Council on December 29.
The letter's authors insist that convening the extraordinary
meeting is urgent because the Minister must be heard in
connection to his statement about indications transpiring from
the SJC that the election of the Supreme Court of Cassation's
(SCC) president is pre-determined. According to two of the SJC
members, who signed the letter, the extraordinary meeting should
focus on discussing the upcoming SCC president election as well
as the Sunday letter by seven EU ambassadors, who voiced
support for the right of judges to publicly express their
opinions regarding the problems in the Sofia City Court. Four
SJC members came out with an additional proposal for including
on the agenda a separate discussion of the Sofia City Court
judges' letter from December 10 and December 22, which contained
specific demands for SJC related to the reorganization of the
court's work and the distribution of cases, the press release
reads.

The leadership of the Sofia City Court has issued its position
on a letter sent by 24 judges from the court to the Supreme
Judicial Council (SJC), with copies sent to Parliament and the
European Commission Representation to Sofia.

Two checks authorized by the SJC have been made on the court
leadership - the President and her Deputies - in connection with
random case assignemt and the computer network used by the
Court, the position says.

The first check found no specific irregularities in the
computerized case allocation. The recommendations have been
fully implemented. The recommendations given after the second
check and a hearing of the leadership on December 17 are being
implemented.

The court leadership was surprised by the second letter, dated
December 22 and signed by 24 judges of the Sofia City Court, who
asked the SJC to order a new check at the court before the
deadline of the recommendations had expired.

On Monday, judges asked the SJC to issue an opinion on whether
the Sofia City Court's leadership is competent. The judges claim
that the SJC did not react adequately to their previous letter
and insist that the questions they asked must be answered.

The court President and her Deputies have always tried to engage
in dialogue with the judges and staff members to solve any
problems in the interest of all, the position says.

The Sofia City Court has 550 judges and staff members and the
sending of letters circulated by the media has a very bad impact
on the people working at the court and on the public image of
the institution, the leadership says.

Seven EU ambassadors of Sofia-based embassies stated their
support for the magistrates who demand the resignation of the
leadership of the Sofia City Court - "a key jurisdiction
responsible for some of the most sensitive cases" - and defended
the further application of the Cooperation and Verification
Mechanism (CVM) in an open letter posted on the British
Embassy's website.

The magistrates' initiative was provoked by doubts about the
operation of the random case allocation software in the Sofia
City Court's Commercial Division in a case for the bankruptcy
of Domain Menada Winery and Belvedere Distribution. In a bTV
interview, French Ambassador Xavier Lapeyre de Cabanes accused
Judge Roumyana Chenalova of mishandling the bankruptcy case
against the two subsidiaries of the French Belvedere Group, and
expressed doubts about the manner in which the case had been
allocated to her.

The seven EU ambassadors stated: "The [Sofia City Court]
President and her Deputies immediately rejected the call to
resign and the allegations in the open letter, and it is not our
place to judge who is right and who is wrong."

They also said in the open letter: "When a group of respected
professionals raises concerns and questions such as these, they
deserve careful consideration and a full response."

The letter also stressed that "the magistrates themselves will
be the key players in making a reformed judicial system work.
Many of them have given a lot of thought to what needs to be
done and how. Their efforts need to be recognized and heard."
LI, PK, SN/DD, MY



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