Top Spain Judge Impressed with Progress of Bulgaria Judiciary

Bulgaria in EU | May 23, 2009, Saturday // 16:25|  views

Top Spanish Judge Bermudez has arrived to Bulgaria at the invitiation of "Journalists against Corruption". Photo by elmundo.es

The No 1 Spanish judge, Javier Gomez Bermudez, has stated he was impressed with the incredible progress Bulgaria's judiciary had made in the last 10-12 years.

After meeting with top Bulgarian magistrates, Bermudez, said that since 1996 Bulgaria had managed to carry out judicial reforms which were really crucial even if they still did not function at 100%.

In an interview for Darik Radio, the top Spanish judge reminded that three years ago Bulgaria instituted a new Penal Code, and a new Penal Procedure Code, and that the reforms were supposed to work out.

Bermudez also said that upon joining the EU, Spain had encountered a lot of similar issues in the judicial system as Bulgaria was today such as abuse of EU funds.

Bermudez underscored the importance of two factors for the success of the judicial reform - political will on part of the government, and openness to change by judges and prosecutors.

Bezmudez is Chair of the Penal Department of the National Court of Spain for organized crime, terrorism and money laundering.

He is also the judge in the case for the largest crime in the history of contemporary Europe - the terrorist attack on the Madrid train station Atocha on March 11, 2004, in which 192 people were killed and over 2 000 were wounded.

 

 


Tags: magistrate, judicial reform, Javier Gomez Bermudez, judge, Spain, Eta, Basque

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