Judge Elena Popova from the Administrative Court in Sofia (ASG) came up with incredible reasons to cancel the notice imposed on the chief legal adviser of the Administrative Court of the Sofia, Delyana Ivanova. That’s what “Now” saw in court records. Ivanova was punished with a reprimand in November of this year, after it became known in the summer what she had written in the complaint against the decision of the ASSG, which awarded BGN 40,000 in non-pecuniary damages to Tsvetelina Tsvetkova because of the actions of the police against her under the columns of the SC on 2020 summer protest time
In the cassation appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court, Ivanova used qualifications for the girl as “disgraceful”, “unworthy” and “shame for the younger generation”. “To go dressed like that to an unregulated protest and claim you’re not undressed is unbecoming of a young person. It’s disgraceful for a young person to take advantage of their clothing to get compensation money. I I am simply ashamed that such persons are part of the young generation of Bulgaria, even if they serve as an example,” Ivanova wrote. However, according to judge Popova, it was not Ivanova who behaved unethically by writing this, but lawyer Nikolay Khadzhigenov, who distributed the document. (See his comment below.)
After “Sega” wrote about the case, disciplinary proceedings were launched against Ivanova, which ended with the lightest possible punishment under the Civil Servant Act. The SDVR accepted that with her behavior she had damaged the prestige of the service. However, Ivanova appealed, and so the case went to court. Now judge Popova decides in favor of Ivanova, and this decision is final.
In her complaint against the remark, the lawyer wrote that her words against Tsvetkova were overexposed, and by filing the complaint she simply fulfilled her official duties. According to Ivanova, what she wrote against the girl is not an insult or slander. It also emphasizes the freedom of expression of opinion, although civil servants should not engage the institutions in which they work with their personal opinion. (In the meantime, the Ministry of Internal Affairs denied Ivanova’s insults, but did not apologize to the girl.).
The court found that the Ministry of Internal Affairs complied with all the rules and deadlines in conducting the disciplinary proceedings. However, according to judge Popova, Tsvetkova’s lawyer is to blame, not the lawyer from SDVR.
“In this case, the conclusion of a violation of the code of ethics of civil servants can actually be accepted with the expressions used in the cassation appeal,” says the court. However, the consequences for the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not come from her actions, but from the actions of lawyer Khadzhigenov, who disseminated Ivanova’s “work”. “The complaint became public knowledge not because Ivanova made its contents official, but as a result of purposeful behavior by the procedural representative of the opposite party in the case, which calls into question his own ethical behavior in relation to the ongoing case,” Judge Popova wrote.
A balance must be sought between the right to freedom of expression of the legal consultant and lawyer Hadjigenov.
However, Judge Popova rejects Ivanova’s request to be awarded BGN 2,100 in attorney’s fees, explaining that there is no proof of payment, nor did the attorney participate in the hearing.
Unlike Judge Popova’s speedy ruling, the Supreme Court has not yet issued its decision on the case for Tsvetkova’s compensation. The two trials were heard on the same day – January 25.
WHO IS THE JUDGE
Elena Popova came to the ASSG from the closed special court in July 2022. Before that – in September 2021, she was broadcast as a European delegated prosecutor – these are the people who work in Bulgaria on the cases of the European Prosecutor’s Office headed by Laura Kyoveshi. However, Popova did not complete her full mandate as a European prosecutor and in February this year. resigned from the service at Köveshi.
Popova graduated in law from SU. He teaches at the National Institute of Justice. She has nearly 10 years of prosecutorial experience, and her judicial experience before the ASSG was in criminal law.
Another Bulgarian European delegated prosecutor is leaving the European Prosecutor’s Office, Sega has learned. It is about Elena Popova. Before becoming a delegated prosecutor a year ago, she was a special judge.
REACTION
Lawyer Hadjigenov commented to “Sega” that he was not surprised by the court’s decision. He pointed out that many of the special judges hid in the administrative courts.
“This is one of the few cases where I don’t know what to say. And that happens to me very rarely,” he commented.
When asked if he did not expect the court to refer the bar association for his “unethical” behavior, he told how some time ago the former district prosecutor of Sofia, Nevena Zartova, alerted the association against him because he stamped the envelopes for his correspondence with the stamp “Geshev is a disgrace”.
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2024-02-23 00:53:58
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