The Presidential institution will provide full support in formulating and implementing the priorities of the judiciary, President Rosen Plevneliev said at a meeting with the President of the Supreme Court of Cassation Lazar Gruev and of the Supreme Administrative Court Georgi Kolev. The talks with the top judges were held at the initiative of the President as part of establishing a healthy dialogue between the Presidency and other authorities.
Those taking part in the meeting agreed that the five-year progress report on Bulgaria under the Co-operation and Verification Mecahnism to be published by the European Commission should serve as a basis for the debate on the development of the judiciary in the coming years, and should not the basis for tension among institutions. SCC President Gruev said that the Presidential institution was a suitable place for this debate because it was at a remove from other authorities.
The main problems of the judiciary identified at the talks included the high workload of the courts, the security of their personnel, and the condition of the buildings and working conditions of magistrates in the capital and country.
“Today's meeting is the beginning of the debate on sustainable priorities of the judiciary in the future,” SCC President Gruev said at the meeting. Among the important issues on which work was needed was creating a sustainable career development model for judges and prosecutors. On this point regarding the Judiciary Act, the President raised the possibility of Parliament coming up with a mechanism to magistrates to ensure their professional development within the system.
The President may be the guarantor of dialogue also on the accelerated introduction of the concept of “e-Justice” in Bulgaria. Currently in the capital alone, more than 600 000 summonses are served a year, and this can happen electronically, SCC President Gruev said. Basic to the justice system is the issue of training of the judiciary, which supports the work of magistrates.
SCC President Gruev said that it is necessary to launch a debate on the use of science in the interests of justice. According to the supreme magistrates, in this way the SCC would establish itself as a guarantor of the application of predictable justice in Bulgaria.
The separation of powers is the basis for the modern constitutional state, but equally important is the interaction among the authorities, President Plevneliev and SCC President Gruev agreed.
“If I have to choose between a fast and opaque selection of Supreme Judicial Council and one that is slow but transparent, I choose to the second,” the President said. In his talks with the two top judicial officials, President Plevneliev reiterated his firm position that a clear and transparent selection procedure will give strong credit to public confidence in the future composition of the SJC.
SAC President Kolev said that the rules that now had been adopted for the election of members of the SJC provided sufficient guarantees of transparency of the procedure. Regarding career opportunities for magistrates, Kolev expressed the view that the work of magistrates in the Supreme Judicial Council should be considered when discussing the possibilities for their future careers.
The next Prosecutor-General of the Republic should have high professional and moral qualities, it was emphasised during the meetings with court presidents Gruev and Kolev. They and the President agreed that it was unlikely the current membership of the Supreme Judicial Council would elect the next Prosecutor-General, and the rules set in the Judiciary Act provide sufficient guarantees for the transparency of the selection procedure.