site.btaEight Consecutive Week of Citizens Protesting in Sofia for Judicial Reform

Citizens gathered  in front of the Palace of Justice in Sofia on Wednesday evening to protest against the ongoing procedures for the election of a new Prosecutor General and President of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC). The event was organized by the Justice for All Initiative and was mottoed "#Who regroups the prosecutors general" and "Peevski out of the Judiciary", referring to Movement for Rights and Freedoms - New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski. There was increased police presence in the area.

This was the eighth and last such event for 2024. Organizers urged attendees to bring lamps, lanterns or candles to "illuminate the dark corridors and windows of parallel power." According to the protesters, the procedures for the election of Prosecutor General and SAC President are illegitimate, because they are carried out by a body with an expired mandate, and must be terminated.

"Our demands are still the same: that the National Assembly urgently adopt the amendments to the Judicial System Act and end the flawed procedure for the election of a Prosecutor General," lawyer Velislav Velichkov of Justice for All told the media. He added that this would only happen if the amendments are adopted before January 10. New, bigger protests will follow next year if the MPs decide not to adopt the bills on the Judiciary and thus leave everything in the hands of a Supreme Judicial Council whose term in office expired two years ago, Velichkov said.

On November 27, the Prosecutors Chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) adopted the reports of the Competitions Assessment Commission and the Commission for Professional Ethics (CPE) regarding Borislav Sarafov, who is a candidate for Prosecutor General and currently serving as acting Prosecutor General. Thus, Sarafov was admitted to a hearing on January 16.

On November 21, the SJC Plenum decided to reopen the procedure for the election of SAC President. On December 12, for the third week in a row, there were no nominations for this position. A meeting of the SJC Plenum is scheduled for December 19 where nominations can be made.