site.btaProsecutors Chamber Upholds Appointment of Borislav Sarafov as Acting Prosecutor General

The Prosecutors Chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) confirmed its decision to appoint Borislav Sarafov as acting Prosecutor General and did not initiate administrative proceedings to appoint a new acting chief prosecutor, the SJC announced on Wednesday.

Decisions of the Chamber can be appealed before the Supreme Administrative Court within 14 days.

They were made following a letter by Daniela Taleva, a prosecutor at the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor’s Office and acting prosecutor for investigating crimes committed by the Prosecutor General or his deputies.

Taleva requested a certified copy of the minutes of the Prosecutors Chamber meeting of July 9, 2025, containing information about the discussion on the application of a provision of the Judicial System Act (JSA). She pointed out that in the event of early termination or expiry of the term of office of the prosecutor general, of the head of the Supreme Court of Cassation or the head of the Supreme Administrative Court, one shall be appointed to temporarily perform the relevant functions that come with the respective position. The same person cannot be acting prosecutor general, head of the Supreme Court of Cassation or head of the Supreme Administrative Court for longer than 6 months, regardless of whether there have been interruptions in the performance of the functions.

In its decisions on Wednesday, the Prosecutors Chamber established that Sarafov had been appointed to perform the functions of Prosecutor General of the Republic of Bulgaria by virtue of a decision of the Chamber that entered into force on June 16, 2023. The Board considered the provision of Article 173, paragraph 15 of the JSA to be inapplicable to the legal relationship that arose by virtue of its decision, which had entered into force.

On January 15, 2025, Parliament adopted conclusively amendments to the JSA to terminate the procedure for the election of Prosecutor General. The only candidate for the post was acting Prosecutor General Sarafov. On the following day, the Plenum of the SJC postponed the election of a prosecutor general.

On January 23, the Plenum of the SJC terminated the postponed procedure for electing a prosecutor general.

On July 9, the Prosecutors Chamber of the SJC decided that it will not appoint a new acting prosecutor general. The decision was on the grounds that the legal changes do not have retroactive effect and do not apply to existing cases.