site.btaVarna Bar Association’s Svetlozar Nikolov: No Decisions to End Legal Aid Protests

Bar councils across Bulgaria have neither discussed nor decided to end the effective protests concerning legal aid, Svetlozar Nikolov, a member of the leadership of the Varna Bar Association, said at a press conference at the Bulgarian News Agency's press club in Plovdiv, South Central Bulgaria on Friday. 

Nikolov spoke following an announcement by Minister of Justice Georgi Georgiev on Thursday that the protest of lawyers in Bulgaria is expected to end early next week.

Nikolov explained that in his view, some chairs of several bar councils had agreed to stop the protests, having been promised future changes to the Regulation on Legal Aid and potential increases in remuneration of up to 50%. He was adamant that none of the lawyers’ demands had been met within these promises and there was no grounds for withdrawing from their position.

He stressed that bar councils should continue their protest, since it came after decades of neglect regarding the issue of legal aid. According to Nikolov, the remuneration for legal aid has not changed since 2002 and is insulting to the legal profession. 

He added, “We embarked on this protest because we want a serious and responsible attitude from those in power so that the situation can change. I see this withdrawal as a betrayal of the legal profession, entirely uncoordinated with bar councils and with the protesting lawyers. I express my absolute disagreement with ending the protest and call on all bar councils in the country to take a decision to continue the protest until our demands are met and we receive serious consideration,” Nikolov said.

In his words, an agreement to end the protest was reached by the chairs of the Varna, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Sofia bar associations during a National Bar Conference, which is organized twice a year.

Nikolov added that lawyers’ remuneration for legal aid is extremely low and furthermore, since February, lawyers from the National Legal Aid Bureau have not been paid. Another problem, Nikolov says, is that the bar councils have no information about the amounts to be paid to lawyers by the National Legal Aid Bureau or when these are disbursed. 

Nikolov said that ending the protest is a behind-the-scenes arrangement that harms lawyers and should not be accepted by the bar councils and the lawyers themselves.

Minister of Justice Georgi Georgiev said Thursday that he has reached an agreement with bar council representatives to increase funding for legal aid by 50%, starting from October 1. Georgiev said the Justice Ministry and the Bar also agreed to set up a working group to develop a long-term legislative solution for legal aid. Since June, most bar associations have been protesting by refusing to participate in court-appointed cases involving special attorneys and representatives.