site.btaJustice Minister Briefs Rule of Law Council on New Judicial System Bill

Minister of Justice Atanas Slavov presented the main highlights of the draft of a new Judicial System Act during a meeting of the Council for the Implementation of the National Coordination Mechanism for the Rule of Law, the Justice Ministry reported on Monday.

Slavov stressed the structural reform resulting from the amendments to the Constitution, which provides for the separation of the Supreme Judicial Council, Supreme Prosecutorial Council and the General Assembly, specifying their functions and guaranteeing the political neutrality of the elected members of the councils from the parliamentary quota. Part of the proposed solution is to expand the circle of nominators to include the Supreme Bar Council and the law faculties occupying top positions in the national rating system of the Ministry of Education and Science.

There are also changes in competitions, appraisal and secondment of magistrates.  The texts on the disciplinary liability of judges, prosecutors and investigators, as well as the new organisation of the prosecution service are to be debated. There is no single European standard for the prosecution service, there are a number of open questions to which we need to find a convincing answer for the public, the Justice Minister said.

Slavov said that while the working group on the new Judicial System Act should conclude its work at the end of February, this will not be the end of the discussions. There is to be a public discussion of the draft, an impact assessment, submission to the Council of Ministers, and then to Parliament.

Borislav Ganchev, Chief of the Justice Minister's Cabinet, reported to the Council for the Rule of Law on the progress of the expert working group on to prevent SLAPPs (strategic lawsuits against public participation). Active work is underway on amendments to the Civil Procedure Code, the direction is clear, the work is nearing completion, Ganchev said.