The Prosecutor's College of the Supreme Judicial Council must comply with the decision of the Constitutional Court and dismiss Borislav Sarafov as acting prosecutor general. This was announced by Deputy Minister of Justice Tanya Radulovska before the meeting of the personnel officers. She added that if the prosecutor's college does not show activity on the topic, the Ministry of Justice will again request Sarafov's release.
Tanya Radulovska, Deputy Minister of Justice: “There are reasons to raise the issue of a new acting Prosecutor General again, but I hope that finally the prosecutor's college will understand how the entire legal community interprets the law and Mr. Sarafov will vacate his office so that a new acting Prosecutor General can be elected who will exercise all the powers of the Prosecutor General. If they do not interpret the Constitutional Court's decision in the same way that everyone else interprets it, in which the five members of the Constitutional Court further explained how the law should be interpreted, because, although the decision was adopted unanimously, the majority of the Constitutional Court has clearly considered that it is enough to say that the law does not contradict the Constitution, and not to explain to lawyers how to interpret the law. In this case, we will have to make a request again.“
She also made a comment after the meeting.
Tanya Radulovska, Deputy Minister of Justice: „They closed the meeting the moment I asked the question to the Prosecutor's College. Their answer was that they had read the opinion of Borislav Tsekov, according to whom the Constitutional Court's decision does not bind the Prosecutor's College. Only the Prosecutor's College is competent to assess whether to elect a new acting Prosecutor General or not. After which they explained to me that the Ministry of Justice is not complying with the law because it is disclosing facts from disciplinary proceedings, which, according to them, is contrary to the law. Mr. Sarafov does not need to be dismissed because his powers have been terminated by law, the Prosecutor's College needs to elect a new acting Prosecutor General, something that it became clear today that they have no intention of doing voluntarily. We do not believe that we are violating the law, we have considered it carefully and we believe that since our proposal to initiate disciplinary proceedings is based solely on public facts, we are in no way violating the law, since we are not revealing any secrets within the framework of the proposals to initiate disciplinary proceedings.“
The acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov does not need to be dismissed, because his powers have been terminated by law. There is a need for the Prosecutorial College (PC) of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to elect a new acting prosecutor. chief prosecutor, something that it became clear today that she has no intention of doing voluntarily, Deputy Minister of Justice Tanya Radulovska said at a media briefing after the meeting of the Supreme Judicial Council.
They closed the meeting the moment I asked the question about Sarafov. Their answer was that they had read an opinion by lawyer Borislav Tsekov, according to whom yesterday's decision of the Constitutional Court (with regard to Acting Chief Prosecutor Borislav Sarafov, author's note) does not bind the Prosecutor's College. Only it is competent to elect a new Acting Chief Prosecutor or not. After which they explained to me that the Ministry of Justice is not complying with the law, Deputy Minister Radulovska also said.
She added that according to the college, the Ministry of Justice is not complying with the law by disclosing facts on investigations in relation to Sarafov and Acting Administrative Head of the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office Emilia Rusinova. Since our proposal to initiate disciplinary proceedings is based on public facts, we are in no way violating the law, the deputy minister explained.
After the Constitutional Court's decision, not only is there reason to raise the issue of a new acting prosecutor general again, but I hope that the Prosecutor's College will finally understand how the entire legal community interprets the law and Sarafov will vacate his office so that a new acting prosecutor can be elected who will perform all the functions of the prosecutor general, Radulovska said before the start of the meeting.
According to her, if the College does not read the Constitutional Court's decision as everyone else does, and as the five members of the Constitutional Court have clarified how the law should be interpreted, the ministry will have to make a request again.