site.btaConstitutional Court Was Not Consulted before Desislava Atanasova Was Appointed Venice Commission Member

The Constitutional Court (CC) was not consulted on the issue of the appointment of Constitutional Court Judge Desislava Atanasova as member of the Venice Commission [European Commission for Democracy through Law], said Constutitonal Court Judge Yanaki Stoilov Tuesday.

He pointed out that the Council of Ministers had exercised its power and added that the ministers of justice and foreign affairs should have had an opinion or a proposal to the government before the decision was made.

Stoilov explained that a practice has been established in recent years for constitutional judges, probably for reasons of professional competence, to be appointed to the Venice Commission. However, he said, the question remains open because participation in an international consultative body entails providing opinions, some of which then become cases in the Constitutional Court. According to him, this has not happened in previous years.

Desislava Atanasova was appointed  as Bulgaria's representative to the Venice Commission by a decision of the Council of Ministers on January 31. By the same decision, Borislav Belazelkov, also a Constitutional Court Judge, was appointed Bulgaria's substitute member of the Venice Commission.