The caretaker Justice Minister of Bulgaria, Andrey Yankulov, announced that his team has drafted revisions to the Judicial System Act. According to the ministry, the proposed changes aim to significantly enhance the election procedures governing the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and the SJC Inspectorate. These revisions are slated for review by the next government to be elected by Parliament.
The draft legislation introduces two key oversight mechanisms. First, it mandates the formation of a special commission composed of professionals independent of political forces. This commission will conduct a professional assessment of candidates, offering objective evaluations of their integrity, strengths, and weaknesses.
Sources for this panel include the general assemblies of the Supreme Courts, the President, the National Ombudsman, and the Supreme Bar Council. The resulting candidate profiles will be submitted to the parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee and made public. Second, the bill establishes a provisional commission tasked with verifying the asset declarations of SJC and SJC Inspectorate candidates.
This commission will comprise experts from financial analysis fields, including the Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Chamber of Independent Appraisers of Bulgaria, and the Bulgarian National Bank. These experts will verify declarations for truthfulness and investigate any transactions involving suspiciously low pricing or unclear funding sources. Furthermore, the revisions address the scope of judicial review.
The Justice Minister will be granted the authority to contest any instruments adopted by the SJC in court. This action rectifies a current gap in the judicial review process, which presently restricts appeals primarily to directly affected individuals, a limitation noted as particularly problematic during single-candidate elections.
Topics: #ministry #judicial #election
