site.btaEU Court of Justice Advocate General: Abolition of Bulgaria's Specialised Criminal Court Complies with EU Law

In a conclusion on case C-634/22 published Thursday, the EU Court of Justice Advocate General says that EU law allows a judicial reform in a Member State that abolishes a specialised criminal court, whose powers are transferred to another general court, and that envisages the abolished court's ongoing case proceedings to be held by the competent court until the judges panel is closed down. Case C-634/22 is a request for a preliminary ruling lodged by Bulgaria's Sofia City Court (SCC) in October 2022 over the abolition of the Specialised Criminal Court.  

The EU Court of Justice Advocate General's conclusion is non-binding for the Court, which will come out with a ruling at a later date.

Last year, Parliament passed revisions to the Judicial System Act whereby closing down the specialised jurisdictions in Bulgaria, including the first-instance Specialised Criminal Court, set up in 2011 to try organized crime offences and corruption offences. The revisions transferred both its concluded and unconcluded cases to the Sofia City Court. Pending court proceedings are to be concluded by the same panels and, to this end, the judges who are reassigned to the SCC are posted to the relevant court until the proceedings are completed, the amendments read.