Georgi Ushev, Chairman of the Specialized Criminal Court: We received 496 cases during the first three months of operations

- Mr. Ushev, how many cases did Specialized Criminal Court consider in the past three months?
- In the first three months of our work, a total of 496 cases were filed with the Specialized Criminal Court. Some 69 of these were of general nature and 427 were private criminal cases. Out of these, the Court has ruled on a total of 425 private criminal cases and some 37 criminal cases of general nature. Actually, these are 38 cases on Monday we made a ruling on another case, which is not included in the report for the first quarter of 2012. Out of these 38 cases of general nature, 4 have ended with sentences. Fourteen cases ended with agreements and on 21 of the cases, the criminal proceedings were terminated.

- What was the gravest punishment imposed in the period January – March 2012?
- The gravest sentence was for four years imprisonment and a fine of BGN 10,000. This penalty was imposed on the head of an organized criminal group, dealing with distribution of high risk drugs

- Did the Specialized Court impose this penalty through a sentence?
- No, this penalty was imposed by an agreement.

- And what was the gravest penalty imposed by a sentence?
- The hardest punishment imposed by a sentence was two years imprisonment under strict regime. So, some penalties imposed by agreements were even tougher.

- How many judges are there at the Specialized Criminal Court at the moment?
- There are 9 effective working judges at present. These are the 9 panel members. There is a colleague who was also elected, but she is currently on maternity leave and in fact does not work. So, this is the available staff at the moment.

- Do you think you are already in a position to assess whether staff is overloaded and whether you would need new members?
- Judging from the figures I mentioned, we had quite many cases during the first quarter. Over those three months, we received a total of 496 cases, which were distributed among the 9 judges. You can see how many cases one person has to consider. For this reason, I have prepared a request to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) with a demand for staff increase. The rapid and efficient handling of the cases is the primary expectation of our institution. Until now, we are coping.
Indeed, most of the cases we received had been tried in all district courts, without a judicial investigation. Moreover, before the legislative changes, we were able to control the pre-trial proceedings on all cases that are actually under investigation by the district Prosecutor's Offices. But the entire control of the pre-trial proceedings in those cases - the security measures, the activities carried out in line with the protocols for search and seizure, were conducted by the Specialized Court. Now this situation has been changed, since it created a lot of inconvenience. Witnesses, defendants and prosecutors from all over the country were obliged to travel.
 
- How many new judges are needed?
- I demanded 8 new judges, as at least. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, about 200 cases are expected to be filed per year. And if that proves to be true, we will not be able to meet the requirements for speed with the existing staff. Therefore, I asked for 8 new judges, but the competition procedure for new appointments is a quite time consuming issue. It takes more than a year from the announcement of the competition until the judge takes office. So, this calendar year, there will hardly be bew appointments.

- So, you can expect them to join your team next year at this time?
- Yes, next year at this time, when these pre-trial proceedings, which are in the Prosecution, now, are expected to be finalised.

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