Brussels insists on direct election of the new members of SJC

The European Commission insists on direct election of the members of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) from the judicial quota, reads a letter mailed to Justice Minister Diana Kovacheva. According to the EC, every magistrate should be authorised to vote directly on the election of the SJC panel, which will be selected in the autumn.

"The direct election of the members of the Supreme Judicial Council from the judicial quota is the best option that will not only assist the restoration of the confidence to the Council on the part of the society and the magistracy, but will also be an important starting point for more serious reforms of the judiciary, states in the letter the EC Secretary General, Catherine Day. The European Commission refers to the amendments of the Judiciary Act. They have already been introduced in Parliament, but actually fail to provide for direct election of the senior magistrates in the next SJC. "Our analyses show that it is feasible and desirable the direct election mechanism to be introduced for the autumn selection of the new Supreme Judicial Council," states the letter, cited by Mediapool.

Before Klassa daily, the Justice Ministry specified that several months ago a letter was recieved from the EC with the same recommendation for direct election of the SJC panel and added that the amendments to the Judiciary Act complied with it. Meanwhile, the Ministry's officials explained that the direct election was postponed for the next SJC selection procedure because the software, via which judges have to vote, cannot be ready until the autumn. The amendments to the Judiciary Act have been adopted on first reading in Parliament in the Legal Affairs Committee.

The Supreme Judicial Council is the judiciary body, which must actually appoint, promote and dismiss judges, prosecutors and investigators. Due to the wide criticism of the SJC performance and the accusations of "unfair judicial staff appointments", the GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) government promised legal amendments, which will ensure more transparency in the selection of the next SJC panel.

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