EC Dismayed at Bulgarian Justice Min's Blunder on Judicial Reform

Bulgarian Justice Minister Diana Kovacheva has started Brussels with her claims that the EC demands no fundamental judicial reform in Bulgaria. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Justice Minister Diana Kovacheva has apparently startled the European Commission by suggesting that Brussels does not insist on an all-out reform of the Bulgarian judiciary, and the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) in particular.

The European Commission on Thursday insisted once again that Bulgaria must introduce direct election of the members of its supreme judicial body by all of the nation's magistrates, a remark that came from EC Spokesperson Mark Gray in Brussels, as cited by the correspondent of the Bulgarian National Radio, in reaction to Kovacheva's statements in Bulgaria.

"The position of the European Commission remains unchanged. As we have been emphasizing it for the Bulgarian authorities for some time now, we believe that a fundamental reform of the judicial system is needed, starting with the Supreme Judicial Council," Gray told reporters in Brussels, as cited by BNR.

"According to our analyses, it is still totally possible to introduce direct election on the "one person, one vote" principle for the renewal of the Supreme Judicial Council this fall. We hope that this approach will be selected by the Bulgaria authorities," he elaborated.

The EC's reaction comes after recent interviews and statements in which the Bulgarian Justice Minister Kovacheva states that the EC does not insist on fundamental reforms of the Bulgarian Judiciary.

"I have read all EC reports very carefully, and nowhere have I noticed that they demand "fundamental" changes of the VSS," KOvacheva told Mediapool in a recent interview.

EC Spokesperson Gray's remark on Thursday is the fourth time in less than three months of the European Commission insisting that Bulgaria's top judicial body, the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) be elected directly.

In late April 2012, EC Secretary-General Catherine Day has sent letter to the Bulgarian authorities, as represented by Justice Minister Diana Kovacheva, that they need to introduce a direct election of the VSS members by the end of 2012 for those members of the Council that are elected by the judiciary, i.e. the so called magistrate quota.

Day is in charge of the EC reports monitoring the post-accession progress of Bulgaria and Romania in the field of judiciary reform, and combating organized crime and corruption under the so called Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, publishing progress reports twice a year since 2007.

According to the letter of the EC Secretary-General sent to Sofia on April 24, 2012, the introduction of the direct election of the members of the Bulgarian Supreme Judicial Council, a body that has often been criticized for spurring scandals or failing to crack down on scandalous issues, by all members of the judiciary will be crucial for a more tangible judicial reform.

Catherine Day insisted that the direct election of the VSS members must be employed in time for the formation of the new Council in the fall of 2012.

At present, the Bulgarian Supreme Judicial Council is elected by delegates representing the judges and prosecutors working in the judicial system. The latest changes to the legislation are said to provide for greater representation, with each voting delegate representing five judges or prosecutors instead of ten, as was the case earlier.

The latest amendments also introduce a more thorough procedure for the election of those VSS members that come from the so called parliamentary quota, and are elected by the Parliament.

In the fall of 2012, the Bulgarian Parliament is to elect 11 members of the VSS, and the judiciary will be entitled to elect the other 11 under the existing procedures.

The new Supreme Judicial Council will have to make key choices by electing Bulgaria's new Chief Prosecutor (current Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev's seven-year term is set to expire), the Director of the National Investigation Service, the head of the Supreme Court of Cassassion, as well as a large number of judges and prosecutors.

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