"Society pays directly for inaction and incompetence in the judicial system". This was stated in "Face to Face" on bTV by Ivan Bregov, who commented on the problems in the judicial system, the submitted bills for amendments to the Judiciary Act and the need for a deep reform of the judiciary.
Bregov emphasized the social cost of ineffective justice and the lack of responsibility in the prosecution and judicial system. "What are we viewers doing with technology? This should not be a problem. What does this law say? And only yesterday, I said it yesterday, Geshev condemned the prosecution for 130 thousand euros, and Uzunov, the advisor to President Radev, condemned this same prosecution of Geshev, when Geshev with his Praetorians invaded the presidency. And do you see what an absurd, disgusting life we live in, how many thousands we give for their manic wars?“
„We not only give these funds, but for example, now there is a member of the Supreme Judicial Council from the Judicial College, who is from the Criminal College of the Supreme Court of Cassation, in whose case Bulgaria is being tried before the European Court of Human Rights. But this lady was nominated by GERB, voted for by the National Assembly with the chairman of the legal committee, Danail Kirilov, who did not ask this lady a single question.“
Bregov emphasized that the problem is not only moral, but also professional.
„I think that this outrage is indicative of what kind of people, with what professional qualities — we are not talking about character, we are talking about professional qualities — enter the top administrative positions in the judiciary and everywhere else.“
According to him, people are not interested in the legal details, but in the consequences.
“This excites them — that we are giving hundreds of thousands of euros for the fact that the prosecutor's office cannot write a single indictment, defend a single indictment, people are hanging in detention and judging themselves, and we are paying them.“ He even suggested a symbolic way to illustrate the public price. “Let's hand a receipt to every Bulgarian citizen how much this negligence in the administration of justice matters costs him.“
According to Bregov, judicial reform is not a political whim, but a key state issue.
“It is not a fixation, it is already a top topic in the public order of the Bulgarian state, which, alas, unfortunately, is very difficult to achieve and which consumes more and more resources for Bulgarian citizens. And on key things that determine where the economy is going or trust in institutions, it fails.“
The conversation also discussed the topic of the three bills for amendments to the Judiciary Act, submitted by We Continue the Change, Democratic Bulgaria and “Progressive Bulgaria“.
Bregov commented that their philosophy is similar: “They are very close in design.“
He explained that in his opinion, the “Progressive Bulgaria“ project aims to quickly limit certain powers of the Supreme Judicial Council.
“Progressive Bulgaria have written a text that should quickly extinguish a number of problems. It will, of course, deprive the Supreme Judicial Council of the opportunity to exercise competence on a number of topics — both important and unimportant.“
According to him, the most important element is the limitation of personnel decisions.
„The text, which proposed to limit the possibility of the Supreme Judicial Council to take through its colleges issues of appointment, promotion and disciplinary punishment of judges, prosecutors and investigators, is an essential element. And on this issue there is an absolute coincidence between the DB, PP and Progressive Bulgaria.“
Bregov also noted specific measures in the bill:
„In the bill of "Progressive Bulgaria" in the transitional and final provisions there is a text that does not allow the SAC to adorn itself with expenses of 2 million euros — another 16 new judges and 25 employees. Thank God, this is coming to an end.“
Regarding the Democratic Bulgaria project, he stated:
„"Democratic Bulgaria" has taken the bill, which under the leadership of Judge Yulia Kovacheva as Deputy Minister in 2023 and 2024 was very seriously written with great participation of the professional community and a detailed examination in the Ministry of Justice. They have taken its basis and transferred it in a very detailed form in their project, which I would say is a long-term vision.“
Criticism was directed at the project of "Continuing the Change". „Continuing the Change have made a political action with several very short texts, which I would say have many imperfections in the way they were written.“
When asked whether it was possible to reach a working consensus, Bregov replied: “I think they can guarantee the decency of people in the system externally. And this decency should have both an internal expression for the people who work in this system and an external expression for society as a price that is paid and as a result that should still be reduced to the basic efficiency of this system.“
He also paid special attention to the problem of the judicial map.
“Particular attention should be paid to what the judicial districts will be, which courts will remain in the game and which will not.“ In his words, the topic has been postponed for too long. “This is a very long debate, but there was a bad effort 6-7 years ago to encroach on the district courts, and all the others to be sacred cows. This is something that needs to be reconsidered.“
Bregov was categorical that the reform is inevitable due to the increasing costs.
“The budget of the judiciary - I'm tired of saying it - has grown from 520 million leva to 500 million euros in 10 years.“ He also pointed out another serious problem - the certification of magistrates. “The assessment of judges - if you look at the certification results, they all have over 90 points. So they are all excellent. Well, excuse me, but when everyone is excellent, there is no way to promote those who are actually better at their work.“
At the end of the conversation, Bregov also touched on the topic of the so-called „vetting“.
„Recently, there has been increasing talk of vetting, I call it with the Bulgarian word ‘preotbor’. And it can be carried out within the framework of the Bulgarian Constitution, within the framework of Chapter 16 of the Judiciary Act, in connection with the implementation of disciplinary responsibility.“
According to him, this can be done through a more effective Supreme Judicial Council and a functioning inspectorate.
„Very simply — with a more combat-ready Supreme Judicial Council and a well-organized inspectorate, which will carry out their competencies as set out in the law.“ He also criticized the lack of reaction to the scandals surrounding the „Eight Dwarfs“ and the „Notary“ case. “This composition of the inspectorate managed to suppress and cover up absolutely all cases, including the inspections on the ‘Eight Dwarfs’, on the ‘Notary’. The ex officio members of the Supreme Judicial Council from the highest levels of the supreme courts did not take any position on these inspections.“
Bregov concluded with a call for assuming responsibility and parliamentary control over reforms in the judicial system.
“This is something that needs to be reconsidered. And this can be done under the special supervision of the National Assembly, because this is the place where the problems of parliamentary democracy are discussed.“