site.btaSupreme Judicial Council Prosecutors Chamber Receives Proposal to Initiate Disciplinary Proceedings Against Sofia Regional Prosecution Head

Deputy Prosecutor General Maria Pavlova has submitted a proposal to the Prosecutors' Chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council to initiate disciplinary proceedings for disciplinary penalty of Sofia Regional Prosecution Office (SRPO) Head Nevena Zartova, the state prosecution service said Friday.

The proposal is based on a report of a full check of SRPO's work in the period January 1, 2022 - July 31, 2023, appointed by order of acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov on August 7, 2023.

A team of prosecutors from the Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office (SCPO) has carried out 58 inspections of prosecutors from the SRPO. Evidence of irregularity and/or failure to exercise effective supervision over supervising prosecutors was found, and in some of the pre-trial proceedings - evidence of disciplinary violations or breaches of the organisation of work. In only two cases has Nevena Zartova exercised her powers to hold her subordinates disciplinary responsible for deficiencies in their work.

The proposal points out that Zartova's lack of adequate reaction in these cases reinforces the dissatisfaction of the citizens and negatively affects the prestige of the judiciary. One of the examples of lack of organization and effective control is a pre-trial proceeding against a defendant from the Sofia village of Lozen, conducted for causing the death of a young woman recklessly in April 2022. The investigation was initiated after the defendant was prosecuted for two murders committed in early August 2023.

The inspection also found a lack of motivation in the allocation of files and pre-trial proceedings, a deviation from the rules of allocation based on the principle of random selection, and an uneven workload of prosecutors from the Specialized Department compared to other departments in the SRPO.

The pre-trial proceedings in which Zartova had exercised management and supervision were also examined. The conclusions were that the investigations were not conducted in a rhythmic manner, in some cases there was inaction, decrees to extend the statutory deadline by deputy district prosecutors in the SRPO authorised by her, which appeared to be contrary to the law. As a result, some of the investigations were not completed within a reasonable time. There was also a lack of effective control over the suspended pre-trial proceedings.

In view of the findings of the inspection, Deputy Prosecutor General Maria Pavlova proposes that SJC's Prosecutors Chamber initiates disciplinary proceedings to impose a disciplinary penalty on Nevena Zartova under the Judiciary System Act for violations committed by her and failure to fulfil her duties.