Bulgarian Lawyers Want Names of Judges Actively Interacting with Top Cop

Domestic | February 15, 2012, Wednesday // 12:50|  views

Bulgarian lawyers have demanded the names of judges said to hold daily talks with the Interior Minister. Photo by dariknews.bg

Criminal defense lawyers from Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Sliven have insisted that the names of Bulgarian judges said to hold daily conversations with Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov be announced in public.

The experts say that the measure will "guarantee that defendants tried in Bulgarian courts get a "fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law," as stipulated in Article 6, paragraph 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights".

The lawyers' reaction was triggered by two recent media appearances of the Interior Minister, including an interview for the 24 Hours daily in which he said "I would like to thank these judges who talk to me on a daily basis and are the pioneers of change" and a statement made during a morning broadcast of private TV station TV7 that "There are many judges with whom I communicate every day and who support me".

The group of disgruntled criminal justice experts has sent a letter of complaint to the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS), Parliament Chair Tsetska Tsacheva and EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding.

The lawyers argue that the publication of the names of judges who are actively interacting with the Interior Minister will provide better conditions for defendants and/or their defenders to exercise the right stipulated by the Criminal Procedure Code to demand a recusal so as to get a fair trial by an independent and impartial court.

Tsvetan Tsvetanov, the letter reads, heads an institution whose officials are investigating authorities in the criminal proceedings and "the daily informal talks about support with representatives of the courts specialized in administering justice only in criminal cases (under Article 6, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code) stir up doubts in us of the impartiality of "many judges".

Through the letter of complaint, the lawyers are launching a new attack against the Interior Minister, who has long been waging a war against the judiciary and regularly uses his media appearances to criticize Bulgarian courts for the unsuccessful fight against organized crime.

Tsvetanov's loaded media statements have so far earned him a libel lawsuit filed by Miroslava Todorova, Chair of the Bulgarian Judges Association (BJA) and a judge at the Sofia City Court.

Todorova resorted to legal action after the Interior Minister repeatedly accused her of being incompetent in doing her job and of patronizing the mafia.

The tension between the judiciary and the Interior Ministry escalated further last month after a specialized police operation was titled R.A.L.I.T.S.A after the name of a judge who had released an offender on house-arrest terms.

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Tags: mafia, libel, Bulgarian Judges Association, Miroslava Todorova, judiciary, criminal cases, Criminal Procedure Code, VSS, Supreme Judicial Council, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Viviane Reding, Parliament Chair, Tsetska Tsacheva

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