site.btaCC-DB Says EU Court Judgment Demands Urgent Judicial Appointments

The Wednesday judgment by the Court of Justice of the European Union that the Inspectorate to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), whose mandate has expired, cannot continue to assess the integrity and performance of judges, prosecutors, and investigating magistrates, should result in the prompt start of procedures for election of a new chief inspector and inspectorate members, as well as election of SJC members on the parliamentary quota, Nadejda Iordanova, co-floor leader of Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), said in a commentary for parliamentary reporters Wednesday.

She said that the judgment confirms her coalition's "longstanding position that the Inspectorate and the SJC, once their mandates have expired, cannot fully exercise their powers". "The Constitutional Court, however, had taken the view that they could. The EU Court’s decision will force the Constitutional Court to reconsider this practice," said she.

Iordanova, who is a former Minister of Justice, explained that an immediate consequence of the EU Court’s judgment is that the Constitutional Court must now align itself with the principles set out in that judgment, within the current case initiated by acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov on whether the powers of the SJC with an expired mandate can be limited. Iordanova also believes that Orlin Kolev, the rapporteur on the case - who, before being appointed as a Constitutional Court judge, had expressed a position that is now contradicted by the EU Court - will have to provide a very well-reasoned justification for his stance.

"Another immediate consequence of the EU Court’s decision is that the Supreme Judicial Council and the National Assembly must begin, as quickly as possible, the procedures for appointing a Chief Inspector and inspectors to the Inspectorate, as well as for electing the parliamentary quota of members to the SJC," added the CC-DB co-floor leader.