With a scandal, members of the Supreme Judicial Council leaving the meeting and refusing to vote, the several-hour debate on the possible appointment of 18 elected with dubious magistrate competition for commercial divisions of the courts of appeal in the country.
In FAKTI we wrote quite extensively on the subject.< br />
All this was foreseen< /a> in point 6 of the agenda of the Judicial College of the SJC and from the very beginning it caused controversy. The Chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court, Georgi Cholakov, stated that it should be clarified whether a violation was committed during the formation of the commission that elected the 18 judges, as it included a person - a professor from the University of Veliko Tarnovo, who was not habilitated in commercial law , and participated in the selection of judges for commercial divisions. According to Cholakov, this should be clarified, and if a violation is found, the competition should be held again.
Cholakov's proposal, however, met with fierce resistance from council members Atanaska Disheva and Olga Kerelska. Disheva – in a long monologue, explained that the now ranked judges should be voted on, as it was imperative for everyone, and the contest was in order. According to her, the teacher in question was chosen correctly and there were no violations of the law. In addition, he requested that analyzes be made and information collected on previous competitions for law departments from universities throughout the country regarding how they habilitate their professors and whether they have a special habilitation in commercial law, to review reasons for old decisions on the promotion of magistrates , also those with which teachers are qualified and included in lists for participation in committees.
Last but not least, Disheva insisted on ensuring the presence of three representatives of the Judicial College in the SJC, who are absent today, which practically no one can do. After her, Olga Kerelska joined in with similar requests, repeating a large part of Disheva's statements.
This annoyed Boyan Novanski, who tried to cut off the endless talking with a reference to the teacher in question, who participated in the commission and his scientific publications, none of which were related to commercial law. Novanski then explained that the contest is already compromised enough, and this talk only deepens the process and doubts should be cleared, because it is in the interest of both those who run the contest and the judges who have been ranked in it .
“The contest must be held again”, he was categorical.
When it was time to vote, Disheva insisted that her proposals be voted on one by one. As none of them gathered a majority, she became enraged and declared that majority decisions could not be imposed in this way, which is why she would not take part in the vote. Meanwhile, her colleague Kerelska left the meeting room without explanation. Thus, the quorum in the panel of judges was lost and the meeting ended without a result.
A dubious competition for judges blew up the quorum in the SJC and the vote failed
The competition is for magistrates for commercial divisions of the appellate courts in the country
Sep 24, 2024 17:45 43
