“Dependence, from my point of view, and not only from mine, is that someone can call you and tell you what to do“, This was stated in the program “Offensive with Lyubo Ognyanov” on NOVA NEWS by the former MP from the People's Party and candidate for member of the Supreme Judicial Council Assoc. Prof. Vasil Pandov, who commented on the question of how independent a person can be, who until a few months ago was a member of parliament.
According to him, formal guarantees are not sufficient to determine whether a person is independent. “Over time, we have become convinced that the criterion for whether a person is independent or dependent is actually his actions, the positions he has held over time, what he has done“, he pointed out.
Pandov emphasized that although he was a member of parliament, the main part of his professional path is related to advocacy and academic activity. “My career and my work as a lawyer have been as a lawyer and a teacher for a much longer time. I consider this to be my main calling“, he said.
The candidate for the Supreme Judicial Council stated that he had not held talks with political parties to support his candidacy. “I have no idea who will support me and who will not“, Pandov said. and added that he had presented a 58-page concept in which he analyzed international standards for the independence of the judicial system and the practice of the Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. According to Pandov, formal compliance with the standards is not enough. "The public's perception of whether the judicial system is independent is very important," he pointed out.
According to him, one of the main problems in the judicial system is related to the way in which competitions for magistrates are held. "If a competition is rigged, if it is not objective, there is no way that the entire system will not be reproduced from there," Pandov said. He gave as an example cases in which, according to him, there were suspicions of violations in the conduct of competitions and the leakage of competition assignments. According to him, the transparency and objectivity of competitions are directly related to the independence of the judicial system.
Pandov also commented on the secondment of judges. According to him, the existing rules can be circumvented, including by successively occupying different vacant posts. As one of the ways to limit abuses, he pointed out the regular and rhythmic conduct of competitions.
He also drew attention to the checks on the property status of magistrates. According to him, the existing declaration procedures should be accompanied by a more thorough check in competitions for administrative managers and other key positions. Pandov also commented on the use of special intelligence means against magistrates. He pointed out that in his opinion this could also become a tool for pressure if the information from such procedures is not promptly destroyed when there is no legal basis for its storage.
He also highlighted the change in public perception of the role of the judge. According to him, the modern judicial system should be closer to society and work to restore trust in justice. “The function of the Supreme Judicial Council, in addition to correcting all the shortcomings of the system - competitions and those things that depend on it in terms of personnel, in my opinion is to change the overall perception of society about the judge“, said Pandov.