site.btaKey Anti-Corruption, Prosecutor Oversight Draft Laws Prepared, Justice Minister Says

Caretaker Justice Minister Andrey Yankulov said in an interview with Bulgarian National Radio that his team has prepared key draft legislation under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, including bills aimed at establishing a depoliticised anti-corruption commission and improving the mechanism for investigating the prosecutor general. The bills have been approved by the Council of Ministers and consulted with the European Commission. If adopted, they would mark a positive step forward for the justice system, Yankulov said.

In addition to the legislation, Yankulov also talked about the expectations that a new regular government will move ahead with the election of a new Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

"I don’t think such strong emphasis should be placed on deadlines. The focus should rather be on quality," Yankulov said, referring to the parliamentary quota in the SJC. In his view, the rules for the selection process should be revised first.

The SJC has 22 members - 11 elected by parliament and 11 by the judiciary. Those who have the right to sit on the council are the heads of the supreme courts and the prosecutor general, Yankulov noted. He added that the parliamentary quota alone cannot significantly change the overall composition of the SJC, stressing that the selection of the professional quota will also be of crucial importance.

The SJC’s Prosecutors Chamber is problematic from an organizational standpoint because it is composed of former and future subordinates of the prosecutor general. If people who are not part of the prosecution service are appointed to the Prosecutors Chamber through the parliamentary quota, they can serve as a counterbalance to those with internal departmental dependencies, Yankulov said.