site.btaParliament Expected to Continue Second Reading of Amendment to Judicial System Act

Parliament is expected to continue the second-reading debate and voting on the amendments to the Judiciary Act.

On Thursday, MPs were unable to adopt all of the proposed provisions because the parliamentary session ended before the debate was completed. Work on the bill will therefore continue at the next sitting. National Assembly Chair Mihaela Dotsova said that lawmakers would proceed with reading the remaining amendments and debating them.

The remaining provisions of the bill propose that the Prosecutor General will be assisted by up to three deputies. Currently, the Prosecutor General has two deputies.

The bill also provides that, within 14 days of the amendments entering into force, the Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council must adopt rules governing the election of members of the Supreme Judicial Council by judges, prosecutors, and investigators, along with a timetable for conducting the elections. The timetable must include all organizational and technical measures necessary to prepare the elections, in accordance with the minimum deadlines established by law.

The proposed amendments provide that elections for new members of the Supreme Judicial Council from the professional quota will be held at the regional courts using paper ballots.

At the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, a proposal was also approved to expand the range of bodies and officials authorized to initiate the early dismissal of the Prosecutor General. Under the proposal, such a motion may be submitted by the Minister of Justice, the President of the Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC), the Plenum of the SCC or the General Assembly of its Criminal Chamber, at least three members of the Supreme Judicial Council, the Ombudsman, at least one-fifth of the Members of Parliament, and the Supreme Bar Council.

The agenda also includes the regular parliamentary question time, during which Deputy Prime Minister Ivo Hristov and Ministers Ivan Vasilev, Ivan Shishkov, Katya Ivkova, Evtim Miloshev, Plamen Abrovski, Encho Keryazov, and Rositsa Karamfilova-Blagova are scheduled to answer questions from Members of Parliament.