site.btaUPDATED Acting Prosecutor General Nominated as Only Candidate for Top Prosecutor on Last Possible Day

Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov was nominated for election to the post of Prosecutor General as the only candidate on Thursday. This was the last of four meetings of the Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) at which candidates could be named.

Sarafov was nominated by three members of the Prosecutors Chamber: Stefan Petrov, Plamen Naydenov and Svetlana Boshnakova. Nominations can be made by three members of the Prosecutors Chambers and by the Justice Minister. On September 10, Justice Minister Mariya Pavlova said she would not name a candidate.

Nominating Sarafov, Stefan Petrov said he had the required qualities and experience as administrative leader. He has legal expertise and personal authority and is an ethical magistrate. His career in the judiciary spans nearly 30 years, Petrov said.

Sarafov was Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev's deputy until June 16, 2023, when the SJC voted Geshev out of office for undermining the prestige of the judiciary. That became possible after revisions in the Judicial Power Act lowered to 13 from 17 the number of votes required for dismissing the country's top prosecutor.

On September 5, Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) urged the Prosecutors Chamber not to resume the procedure for electing the new prosecutor general, arguing that an SJC with an expired term has no democratic legitimacy to elect a new prosecutor general for the next seven years.

A solution for all problems

In a position received at BTA, Sarafov says that he has "the needed solution for all open problems" in the prosecution service. "Being aware of the huge responsibility that goes with the nomination, I am ready to propose to the Supreme Judicial Council my vision for strategic development of the prosecution service based on my nearly 30-year career ," he says. "While resolving these problems, I will continue to rely on my colleagues with which, I believe, I can reform the prosecution service and the investigative services, turning them into guardians of the interests and rights of Bulgarian people," the statement goes.

He further says, "I can now declare that if I am elected Prosecutor General of the Republic of Bulgaria, I will work daily and purposefully to restore the sense of justice in society, to enforce rule of law, political neutrality of the prosecution service and the protection of the independence of the judiciary. In my work I will continue to support every Bulgarian prosecutor and investigator who performs his professional duties conscientiously and responsibly, showing understanding and empathy for everyone. I perfectly understand the gravity of the task to win the kind of confidence in the prosecution service that it deserves, and I am ready to work for that."

Who's Borislav Sarafov

Born in Sofia in 1969. Graduated in law from the Higher Institute of the Interior Ministry in 1994. Started his career as an investigator in Sofia in 1996 and then became deputy regional prosecutor in Slivnitsa (2001), prosecutor in Sofia District Prosecution Office (2001-2006), prosecutor in Supreme Administrative Prosecution Service (until 2007) and Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office (until 2011). Headed the Appellate Specialized Prosecution Office in 2011 (until 2017). Elected Deputy Prosecutor General in 2013. Elected director of the National Investigative Service in 2017; re-elected in November 2022.

The procedure from now on

According to a timeline approved by the Prosecutors Chamber on September 9, the candidate has until October 24 to present his concept. The SJC is to make this concept public by October 19.

Two Prosecutors Chamber commissions have until November 26 to adopt reports on the professional and personal qualities of the candidate, so as to be able to discuss them at a meeting of the entire college the next day.

On December 5, the SJC Plenum will set a time and date for hearing of the candidate. The deadline for submitting opinions and questions to the candidate is January 8, 2025.

January 16, 2025 is the day for hearing the candidate and voting to elect the new Prosecutor General.