The team associated with the Bulgarian caretaker Justice Minister, Andrey Yankulov, has drafted revisions to the Judicial System Act aimed at enhancing the procedures for the election of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and its Inspectorate. According to a press release issued by the ministry on Friday, this draft legislation is slated for review by the next government elected by Parliament. The proposed revisions introduce several mechanisms to improve candidate vetting.
First, the bill mandates the formation of a specialized commission composed of professionals independent of political forces. This body will conduct a professional assessment, providing an objective opinion on candidates’ integrity, strengths, and weaknesses. The commission will be constituted by institutions outside direct parliamentary control, including the general assemblies of the Supreme Courts, the President, the National Ombudsman, and the Supreme Bar Council.
These entities will prepare candidate profiles for submission to the parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee and for public release. Furthermore, the legislation proposes a secondary provisional commission dedicated to verifying the asset declarations of all candidates. This commission will involve experts from the Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Chamber of Independent Appraisers of Bulgaria, and the Bulgarian National Bank.
The purpose is to confirm the truthfulness of declarations and investigate any transactions involving suspiciously low pricing or unclear funding sources. Finally, the revisions address the scope of judicial oversight. The Justice Minister would be granted the authority to contest any instruments adopted by the SJC in court.
This measure aims to remedy a gap in the current judicial review process, which currently restricts appeals to only directly affected individuals, a limitation noted as problematic during single-candidate competition procedures.
Topics: #ministry #judicial #election
