site.btaJudicial Council Candidate Doneva Prioritizes Restoring Public Trust

Krasimira Doneva, a judge at the Burgas District Court and a candidate for the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), identified restoring public trust in the judiciary through transparent personnel decisions, uniform rules and genuine accountability for magistrates as her main priority. The General Assembly of Judges was held on Saturday to elect members of the new SJC from the judges’ professional quota.

Judge Doneva proposed changes to competition procedures, calling for measurable criteria to be set in advance, clear weighting of the individual indicators, a representative sample of the cases handled and mandatory consideration of workload.

In her view, the quality of judicial decisions and the results of actual judicial work should carry greater weight in career advancement, while competition panels should provide reasons not only for their scores but also for their comparisons between candidates.

Explaining her decision to take part in the procedure, Doneva cited her many years of professional experience and her conviction that it should be put to use for the benefit of the judiciary. She said she wanted to be an independent professional representative of the judges’ community, free from dependencies and prior commitments, who would defend career advancement based on knowledge, professional qualities and personal effort.

Her other proposals included a clear institutional policy to protect judges from undue pressure, consistent and predictable disciplinary practice without double standards, and making appraisal a genuine tool for professional development.

Doneva proposed abolishing external competitions for the initial appointment of judges to regional courts, with vacancies at that level reserved for the promotion and transfer of magistrates who have already demonstrated their abilities. She also called for a mechanism allowing an administrative head to be recalled at the initiative of, and by a decision of, the general assembly of judges at the respective court.