Bulgarian Agency: No Access to Classified Info for Judges

The head of Bulgaria's Commission for Protection of Information Tsveta Markova thinks it is a bad idea to give judges access to classified info. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria’s State Commission on Information Security has declared itself against granting access to classified information to top-ranking judges.

“We have advised Justice Minister Margarita Popova against allowing members of the Supreme Judicial Council to have access to classified information,” said Tsveta Markova, head of the Information Security Commission on Thursday.

Markova said the Supreme Judicial Council Act provided no regulation of the issue. Recently, Bulgaria’s Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov suggested that the country’s supreme magistrates should be allowed access to classified information when considering appointing new judges.

According to Markova, however, there should be no unlimited access to classified information in terms of the number of persons who can take advantage of this right.

“In Bulgaria, there are already more than 2 000 people with the right of access to classified information, which is actually unacceptable under the NATO and EU standards. The expansion of this circle – which is claimed by the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) to be their right – is going to pose a lot of questions,” said the Chair of the State Information Security Commission.