site.btaStefan Milev Elected Acting President of Sofia Regional Court

Stefan Milev Elected Acting President of Sofia Regional Court

Sofia, February 1 (BTA) - The Judges Chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) Tuesday elected Stefan Milev acting President of the Sofia Regional Court (SRC).

Milev was nominated at the last minute on Tuesday morning by eight SJC members - as many as were needed to vote through his election. The other two candidates, Albena Boteva and Boris Dinev, were nominated by the general assembly of SRC judges. Boteva, whose nomination was defeated by a majority vote at the SJC last week, received six votes on Tuesday, and Dinev received none.

Supreme Court of Cassation President Lozan Panov noted during the debate that the election was a foregone conclusion. Addressing the Council, Panov defined Boteva as "the moral winner". He argued that the persistent ignoring of judicial self-governance cannot possibly fail to demotivate magistrates. Summing up, Panov said that by picking Milev, the SJC takes yet another step towards "unprincipled appointments" which are invariably identified as a problem in the European Commission reports.

Having served as a prosecutor at the Sofia Regional Prosecution Office for ten years, including as deputy regional prosecutor, Milev won a competition for a judge at the Criminal College of the Sofia City Court and was appointed on July 1, 2016.

The office of SRC head fell vacant after President Metodi Lalov resigned in mid-December 2016.