site.btaAppellate Specialized Prosecution Office, Prosecutors Association Criticize Closure of Specialized Jurisdictions by Draft Amendments to Judicial System Act
ESD 13:52:31 11-02-2022
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Appellate Specialized Prosecution Office,
Prosecutors Association Criticize Closure of Specialized Jurisdictions
by Draft Amendments to Judicial System Act
Sofia, February 11 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Appellate Specialized Prosecution Office (ASPO) said on Friday that it had sent the Justice Ministry a negative opinion on a bill amending and supplementing the Judicial System Act, drafted by the Ministry, which provides for the closure of the specialized jurisdictions.
The opinion, signed by ASPO Administrative Head Ivaylo Angelov, will be copied to the European Commission and the European Parliament in connection with the European Rule of Law Mechanism.
The document notes that within several years they were established, the specialized jurisdictions "earned substantial international recognition", among other things as taking credit for the progress in combating international crime, which has been acknowledged in the European Commission's reports under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.
"The closure of specialized justice will be a mistake that cannot be corrected later on," Angelov argues. In his opinion, a law closing down a court would be unconstitutional. The ASPO chief adds that a serious analysis is needed of the achievements and shortcomings so far as well as of the impact of the closure on combating organized crime and corruption, ''especially at places where there are local interdependencies, vested interests, etc."
"Magistrates are on the receiving end of all criticism about slow justice, but the root cause is precisely the excessive formality and the abuse of procedural rights by the accused and the defendants and, often, by their defence lawyers, too," the prosecutor points out. In his words, the efforts to increase the effectiveness of criminal justice should target serious actions to purge the Criminal Procedure Code of unnecessary formality rather than opening or closing judicial authorities, replacing magistrates and transferring cases from one court to another. According to Angelov, the formality in the law results in chronic overwhelming of the preliminary proceedings authorities and the court.
In a position circulated to the media on Friday, the Association of Prosecutors in Bulgaria also took a stand against the closure of the specialized jurisdictions, arguing that this move "is not based on the actual public needs and runs counter to the modern European trend of magistrates' specialization with a view to achieving tangible results in combating particular types of specific crime."
The organization notes that discontinuing the operation of the specialized judicial authorities is being "rushed". The prosecutors also resent the short 14-day period for public consultation on the amendments. They believe that the lack of results from the operation of the specialized jurisdictions, alleged in the reasoning of the bill, is not backed by arguments.
"A genuine reform in the public interest can only be carried out after a real, in-depth and honourable professional debate which should take into account the different viewpoints," the Association said.
Critics of the specialized courts and prosecution offices argue that powerholders use them as "bludgeons" to eliminate their political and business opponents. Proponents insist that the specialized jurisdictions were set up acting on recommendations from the European Commission and the Council of Europe and that their closure is likely to wreck the Bulgarian judicial system, throwing the cases of serious organized crime figures and oligarchs back to square one, releasing them from custody, and giving them back their seized assets totalling 3.5 billion leva.
Democratic Bulgaria, which is part of the government coalition and whose representative Nadezhda Yordanova is Minister of Justice, prioritizes a judicial reform in which a closure of the specialized courts and prosecution offices figures prominently.
The first-instance Specialized Criminal Court was set up in 2011 to try organized crime offences, and its jurisdiction was later on expanded to cover corruption offences as well. The instruments issued by the Specialized Court are subject to intermediate appellate review before the Appellate Specialized Criminal Court. This structure is parallelеd by a Specialized Prosecution Office and an Appellate Specialized Prosecution Office. RY/LG//
LG1349ES.113
113 HOME AFFAIRS-APPELLATE SPECIALIZED PROSECUTION-COMMENT AMPL
Appellate Specialized Prosecution Office,
Prosecutors Association Criticize Closure of Specialized Jurisdictions
by Draft Amendments to Judicial System Act
Sofia, February 11 (BTA) - Bulgaria's Appellate Specialized Prosecution Office (ASPO) said on Friday that it had sent the Justice Ministry a negative opinion on a bill amending and supplementing the Judicial System Act, drafted by the Ministry, which provides for the closure of the specialized jurisdictions.
The opinion, signed by ASPO Administrative Head Ivaylo Angelov, will be copied to the European Commission and the European Parliament in connection with the European Rule of Law Mechanism.
The document notes that within several years they were established, the specialized jurisdictions "earned substantial international recognition", among other things as taking credit for the progress in combating international crime, which has been acknowledged in the European Commission's reports under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.
"The closure of specialized justice will be a mistake that cannot be corrected later on," Angelov argues. In his opinion, a law closing down a court would be unconstitutional. The ASPO chief adds that a serious analysis is needed of the achievements and shortcomings so far as well as of the impact of the closure on combating organized crime and corruption, ''especially at places where there are local interdependencies, vested interests, etc."
"Magistrates are on the receiving end of all criticism about slow justice, but the root cause is precisely the excessive formality and the abuse of procedural rights by the accused and the defendants and, often, by their defence lawyers, too," the prosecutor points out. In his words, the efforts to increase the effectiveness of criminal justice should target serious actions to purge the Criminal Procedure Code of unnecessary formality rather than opening or closing judicial authorities, replacing magistrates and transferring cases from one court to another. According to Angelov, the formality in the law results in chronic overwhelming of the preliminary proceedings authorities and the court.
In a position circulated to the media on Friday, the Association of Prosecutors in Bulgaria also took a stand against the closure of the specialized jurisdictions, arguing that this move "is not based on the actual public needs and runs counter to the modern European trend of magistrates' specialization with a view to achieving tangible results in combating particular types of specific crime."
The organization notes that discontinuing the operation of the specialized judicial authorities is being "rushed". The prosecutors also resent the short 14-day period for public consultation on the amendments. They believe that the lack of results from the operation of the specialized jurisdictions, alleged in the reasoning of the bill, is not backed by arguments.
"A genuine reform in the public interest can only be carried out after a real, in-depth and honourable professional debate which should take into account the different viewpoints," the Association said.
Critics of the specialized courts and prosecution offices argue that powerholders use them as "bludgeons" to eliminate their political and business opponents. Proponents insist that the specialized jurisdictions were set up acting on recommendations from the European Commission and the Council of Europe and that their closure is likely to wreck the Bulgarian judicial system, throwing the cases of serious organized crime figures and oligarchs back to square one, releasing them from custody, and giving them back their seized assets totalling 3.5 billion leva.
Democratic Bulgaria, which is part of the government coalition and whose representative Nadezhda Yordanova is Minister of Justice, prioritizes a judicial reform in which a closure of the specialized courts and prosecution offices figures prominently.
The first-instance Specialized Criminal Court was set up in 2011 to try organized crime offences, and its jurisdiction was later on expanded to cover corruption offences as well. The instruments issued by the Specialized Court are subject to intermediate appellate review before the Appellate Specialized Criminal Court. This structure is parallelеd by a Specialized Prosecution Office and an Appellate Specialized Prosecution Office. RY/LG//
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