/ world today news/ “I am afraid that with this bill you will hit another goalpost in the attempt to reform the judiciary. This will lead to very serious tensions, disputes and lobby battles”.
This was stated by the chairman of the BSP, Mihail Mikov, from the parliamentary rostrum during the discussion of the Law on the Judiciary. “You don’t know where you are pushing the judicial reform”, he added and warned that there will still be many problems in the implementation of the law.
According to Mikov, this draft law was late because the terms in the Constitution determined a different dynamic for its introduction. “It will not lead to the full implementation of the changes in the Constitution that we were opposed to.” Some of our arguments were not heard. Now, those who accepted it, you will have serious problems for the legislative framework and the implementation of these changes in the Constitution, considered as progress”, he commented. According to him, it cannot be called progress when the general meeting can be held on the second day under the conditions of a falling quorum. “How will the representatives of the magisterial communities from Sofia and the province be on an equal footing?” he asked. Mikov is adamant that the law does not guarantee representativeness and the wish for direct election is not provided for in the law. “It turns out that out of about 2,300 judges in Bulgaria, the members of the Supreme Court can be chosen from 30. As many as are left,” he stressed.
We categorically cannot accept the mixing of responsibilities and functions
“We categorically cannot accept the mixing of responsibilities and functions”, said the chairman of the BSP. He is of the opinion that this law adds to the Constitution – by saying that the commissions will function in composition – apart from members of the SJC, and acting magistrates. “They will nominate their colleagues who may have pending cases before them for promotion. I have doubts that other persons, outside of the composition of the National Assembly and the Supreme Court, from the magistracy communities, can also participate in the SJC”, stressed Mikov.
According to him, there will be a serious problem in the election by 2/3 of the next representatives of the SJC. “Interest groups that are not political, through political bargaining, will continue to exert influence, because the role of minorities in the National Assembly elections is strengthened,” he also said.
Mikov is of the opinion that in this law the issue of the functions of the Inspectorate, which were assigned to it by the Constitution to establish conflicts of interest and curious details of the biography of the magistrates, has not been resolved. “With the Constitution, they were seized from the specialized bodies and handed over to the Inspectorate. But in the submitted bill on the judiciary, nothing is said about this issue”, specified the chairman of the BSP. Mikov also commented on absurd entries in the law. He pointed to a text that said positive details about a particular magistrate would not be made public. “What is more interesting is that these collegiums compile, manage and store a personnel file for each judge, and there they reflect data related to professional competence and relevant to successful handling. Nothing is written about the failed handling. And it’s not clear who judges what successful coping is?” he asked.
Mihail Mikov appealed that this law not be adopted and added: “If we do not point out these things from the podium, the Bulgarian citizens will decide that you know what you are doing.”
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