site.btaJudicial Reform Should Not Be Done in Haste, We First Need Functioning Parliament, Says Head of Union of Jurists

Judicial reform must not be carried out hastily; what we first need is a functioning National Assembly, said Vladislav Slavov, Chair of the Union of Jurists in Bulgaria (UJB), in an interview with BTA. He spoke to the national news agency on the sidelines of a seminar for legal professionals in Devin.

Slavov cited as an example the most recent amendment to the Constitution, drafted by a handful of anonymous authors, which was declared almost entirely unconstitutional. According to him, the outcome of recent reforms has been negligible — “neither lawyers are satisfied, nor citizens, nor our European partners.” The situation in the judiciary, he added, has been further aggravated by the inactivity of key judicial bodies. The Inspectorate has been operating with an expired mandate for five years, and the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for three. “They cannot properly perform their duties because their members’ terms have expired, and, secondly, they are unable to appoint holders to key positions such as the Prosecutor General and the Chair of the Supreme Administrative Court,” Slavov noted.

This summer, the UJB issued a position paper calling for the continuation of the long-discussed but still incomplete judicial reform. Slavov reminded that Bulgaria has been “in reform mode” for 35 years. So far, he said, the process has mainly consisted of writing strategies — such documents were adopted by governments in 2001, 2009, and 2014. “Around 2020, we reviewed the implementation of these strategies, and the result was zero,” he added.

Slavov is convinced that the key to progress lies in having a functioning parliament. “This National Assembly has, for instance, set a requirement for a two-thirds majority when electing members of the SJC and the Inspectorate. In the end, MPs must reach an agreement so they can elect both the parliamentary quota of the SJC and the Inspectorate — since the latter is appointed entirely by parliament. I have never approved of this arrangement; I’ve never supported it — it’s absurd to me,” he said.

Based on the views expressed by UJB members at a general assembly, the organization has concluded that a procedure from the mid-1990s should be repeated. The proposal is to create three expert teams of prominent jurists, each led by a recognized legal authority, to develop proposals for reform.

The first team will focus on the SJC — answering questions such as whether the body should be permanent, whether it should have separate chambers, and how the parliamentary quota should be chosen — by the current majority or another. The UJB suggests that the parliamentary quota should be reduced, as it is currently equal in size to the professional quota.

The second team will examine the court system. There are currently 184 courts in Bulgaria, which, according to Slavov, is far too many — especially given the declining population, the falling number of cases, and shifting population dynamics. This, he said, justifies a process of redistributing judicial districts across the country.

The UJB also proposes reconsidering the three-instance model of court proceedings, suggesting that cases should reach the Supreme Court only in exceptional circumstances. This would help reduce the workload of the Supreme Court and its overall size.

On the issue of the legitimacy of Bulgaria’s chief prosecutor Borislav Sarafov, and the Supreme Court of Cassation’s opinion that Sarafov lacks legal authority to perform the role of acting prosecutor general, Slavov said this is a “textbook matter”. He did not wish to take an official position on behalf of the UJB, since its members represent different professions and hold differing views. However, his personal opinion is that the position of the Supreme Court of Cassation should prevail. “If the Supreme Court has said something, we must respect it. Neither the Prosecutors Chamber nor individual prosecutors can stand against the ruling of the Supreme Court — that must be the guiding principle,” Slavov said.