site.btaJustice Minister Proposes SJC's Prosecutors Chamber Dismiss Acting Prosecutor General over Disciplinary Violations

Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Andrey Yankulov has proposed that the Prosecutors Chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) dismiss Borislav Sarafov from office over disciplinary violations, the Justice Ministry’s press office announced on Tuesday.

"In recent months, a series of written statements attributed to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Bulgaria have been publicly circulated. These statements have created significant institutional tension between the Bulgarian prosecution and the courts, damaged the prestige of the judiciary, and undermined public trust in it," Yankulov writes in his proposal to initiate disciplinary proceedings, and outlines five groups of relevant circumstances.

One of these is based primarily on officially disclosed communication by the Bulgarian prosecution with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office concerning the case of Teodora Georgieva, a European prosecutor from Bulgaria who has been temporarily suspended from office.

Two of the remaining groups of grounds relate to what is described as a gross conflation by Borislav Sarafov of his public role with personal interest, as well as the impermissible use of the institutional authority of the prosecution for purposes incompatible with the powers of the office he effectively holds. These include widely known instances in which Sarafov requested the recusal of a judge from the Sofia City Court, who was due to rule on an appeal against the refusal of the ad hoc prosecutor, Daniela Taleva, to initiate pre-trial proceedings on materials that became known as EuroLeaks. Another case concerns a request to the President and Vice President of the Supreme Court of Cassation, as well as to the Prosecutors Chamber of the SJC, to exclude more than 500 judges, all members of the Bulgarian Judges Association, from the random selection process for appointing the next ad hoc prosecutor.

The fourth group of circumstances relates to one of the rare public statements by the acting Prosecutor General on the Petrohan case, in which Sarafov made "an ill-judged public statement" at the outset of the investigation, when investigative hypotheses should still be at an early stage of development. "The statement, which contains specific assessments of individual facts related to the investigation, poses a real risk of influencing the internal conviction of the supervising prosecutor and the investigative authorities, which should instead be based on an objective, comprehensive, and thorough examination of all the circumstances of the case, as well as the law," the reasoning states.

The fifth circumstance concerns an official response issued by the prosecution following a publication on the website of the Supreme Court of Cassation, which stated that the powers of the acting Prosecutor General had been terminated by law, and that a request to reopen criminal proceedings submitted by the acting Prosecutor General did not constitute a valid referral to the court. The prosecution’s response included statements deemed unacceptable, such as claims that "the leadership of the Supreme Court of Cassation is involving the institution in an attempt to achieve illegitimate goals" and that "through its current actions, it is openly contributing to the erosion of public confidence in the fundamental pillar of the state, its justice system, alongside certain political forces." It further said that the court was attempting to "manipulate public opinion" and that "through its actions, the leadership of the Supreme Court of Cassation is pursuing solely political objectives and aggravating the existing instability within the judiciary, which in turn is dictated by certain political circles and their individual representatives within the judicial system itself." According to the proposal to the SJC, by expressing this public position as the de facto head of the prosecution, Borislav Sarafov made extremely harsh claims affecting the independence, reputation, and authority of the Supreme Court of Cassation, thereby violating established standards of institutional ethics.

In conclusion, Yankulov adds that the actions and inactions of the acting Prosecutor General constitute serious disciplinary violations, demanding the imposition of the most severe disciplinary penalty, namely dismissal from office.

On March 11, the Prosecutors Chamber unanimously decided to leave without consideration the caretaker Justice Minister’s proposal to appoint a new acting Prosecutor General. The minister has appealed the refusal before the Supreme Administrative Court.