site.btaJustice Minister Georgiev Calls for Skilled, Independent Lawyers

Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev said that the justice system and all branches of the legal profession need competent, well-prepared lawyers who are immune to outside influence and committed to defending citizens' rights, the Ministry of Justice press service said here on Saturday.

Georgiev greeted the participants in this year's National Competition on Civil and Commercial law Kristian Takov. He is one of the judges evaluating the legal knowledge and advocacy skills of young jurists during a simulated trial, including oral pleadings for both the claimant and the respondent.

The final rounds, held over the weekend at the Palace of Justice in Sofia, pit 12 teams of four students each from Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, New Bulgarian University, the University of National and World Economy, and Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv against one another. The event is organized by the Association for International Law Competitions.

Georgiev said on Friday that, during the government's first 100 days in office, the Ministry of Justice had drafted ten pieces of legislation that are now open for public consultation. In a Facebook post he noted that the most urgent tasks are to resume payments to Bulgaria under the Recovery and Resilience Plan and to remove the country from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) list of Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring (also known as the FATF grey list).