site.btaParliament Decides Only Active SJC Members Can Elect Prosecutor General and Heads of SCC and SAC

Parliament decided on Wednesday that only members of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) whose mandate  has not expired can vote to elect the Prosecutor General, the heads of the Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) and the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC). This change was part of the amendments to the Judicial System Act proposed by Petar Petrov and Tsveta Rangelova from Vazrazhdane. The proposal passed with 208 votes in favor and 29 against from Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF)  - New Beginning.

The SJC Plenum can make a proposal to the President of the Republic of Bulgaria for the appointment and dismissal of the SCC President, the SAC President and the Prosecutor General. According to the amendments, only elected members whose term of office has not expired by the date of the proposal, or the decision may participate in the vote.

A proposal to introduce a double majority system for electing the heads of the SCC and SAC was rejected. The idea, proposed by Alexander Rashev and Nikoleta Kuzmanova from There Is Such a People (TISP), was supported by 174 MPs, while 54 voted against and one abstained.

During the debates, Petar Petrov explained that the changes aim to stop the ongoing process of selecting the Prosecutor General, where there is only one candidate - Borislav Sarafov. Petrov also emphasized that the reform ensures only active SJC members can conduct such procedures in the future.

Petrov commented that Tuesday in the Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee, GERB, MRF-New Beginning and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) prevailed by one extra vote, but in the full parliamentary session the voting balance was different. He called on all parliamentary groups that support the reform to be in Parliament for the vote, specifically Democracy Rights and Freedoms, and to stop GERB, MRF-New Beginnings and BSP from "dusting off" this judicial reform.

Lena Borislavova from Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria said that it is important that the procedure for the election of the Prosecutor General be suspended, as this will not allow Sarafov to continue to perform procedures similar to the current one. "The suspension of Sarafov is important because this person has continued the long-standing tradition of the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office being used as a political tool rather than an independent part of the judiciary. Sarafov, as well as his predecessors, actively participates in political actions and organizes such actions himself, instead of conducting objective and comprehensive investigations of individuals who have committed crimes," Borislavova said.