EC Report Lauds Bulgaria's Efforts, Slams Judicial Results

Bulgaria’s efforts to reform in the field of justice and home affairs are laudable, according to the interim monitoring report of the European Commission.

At the same time, however, its judicial system has failed to produce satisfactory results during the monitored six-month period, states the EC Report under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) presented Tuesday in Brussels.

Full Text of the EC Interim Report on Bulgaria is available HERE ; the EC Memo on the CVM is available HERE

The EC points out that the Bulgarian government has made several specific steps for reform corresponding to recommendations in the previous monitoring reports.

These include revisions of the Penal Procedure Code, the Criminal Assets Forfeiture Act, and the Conflicts of Interest Act.

The EC praises the initiative of the Borisov government to set up joint investigation teams of policemen and prosecutors in order to tackle organized crime and high-level corruption; the reforms of the National Revenue Agency and the State Customs Agency are also seen as contributing to that end.

“These efforts are laudable. Although their merit can only be assessed in the light of their effective contribution to the fight against corruption and organised crime once they are implemented, Bulgaria's recent efforts demonstrate a growing recognition that substantial and far-reaching reforms are required,” the Report reads.

While the Inspectorate of the Supreme Judicial Council is lauded for its good track record, the Bulgarian judiciary as a whole is criticized for failing to produce few results, and for failing to address the issues of irregularities, conflict of interest and trading influence.

“During the second half of 2009, allegations of trade in influence and corruption in relation to senior judicial appointments involving members of the SJC were made public. In response to the allegations, the SJC launched formal disciplinary proceedings against a number of magistrates,” states the Commission while pointing out that the legal base has turned out to be insufficient in order to complete the investigations of the magistrates to a more decisive end.

The trade in influence described in the EC Report with respect to Bulgaria’s judicial system refers to the case of Krasimir Georgiev, aka Krasio the Black, a notorious businessman who is alleged to have traded judicial system appointments for EUR 200 000. Georgiev’s name, however, is not mentioned in the Report.

During the presentation of the EC Report on Bulgaria, EC Spokesperson Mark Gray stated that the Commission expected to see more progress from Bulgaria in the months before the coming out of the annual EC Monitoring Report in July.

The EC is monitoring the post-EU accession progress of Bulgaria and Romania in their problem areas under the so called Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.

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