The deputies of the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs in the National Assembly rejected the proposal by law to prohibit the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), whose members have expired, from electing chairmen of the supreme courts and the Prosecutor General. The parliamentary committee is discussing at second reading the three draft amendments to the Law on the Judiciary (LAJ) by "Vazrazhdane", PP-DB and ITN, concerning blocking the procedure for electing a new Prosecutor General with a single candidate - Borislav Sarafov.
The proposed amendments received 11 votes "for", 3 votes "against" and 9 "abstains" and so they were rejected by the deputies. The MRF-New Beginning was against, and GERB and BSP abstained. In addition, the deputies from the commission rejected the idea in the law to provide for the so-called double majority or majority within the majority in the election of chairmen of the Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) and the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC), as suggested by the PP-DB, news.bg summarized.
The deputies wrote in the judicial law (Art. 6) that "judges, prosecutors and investigators carry out their activities objectively and in compliance with the principles of political neutrality". And they rejected the proposal to prohibit the same prosecutor from participating in the consideration of the case at different instances.
We also remind you of what the draft laws for amendments to the Judiciary Law of "Vazrazhdane", PP-DB and "Ima takvi narod" provide.
The draft law of "Vazrazhdane" aims to achieve greater transparency in the activities of the judicial authorities, as well as publicity of the property status of magistrates and persons with whom they are in de facto cohabitation on a marital basis. The second group of amendments are a consequence of the open procedures by the Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for the election of the Prosecutor General and the Chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC). The main goal of the draft law of "Vazrazhdane" is to increase the guarantees of transparency and public legitimacy in the election of the President of the Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC), the President of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Prosecutor General, by providing for an explicit rule that the SJC, at the end of its mandate or after its expiration, cannot open a selection procedure, respectively propose candidates for the appointment of the President of the Republic for the three listed positions.
The PP-DB draft law introduces additional guarantees of competitiveness, transparency and integrity in the election of the Prosecutor General, the President of the SAC and the President of the SJC, as well as eliminating some imperfections in the current procedure for their election. It is proposed to expand the initiative for nominations of candidates for the Prosecutor General, by giving all members of the SJC Plenum the opportunity to propose candidates, not only members of the Prosecutorial College. The draft law provides for an act of the Supreme Judicial Council to introduce minimum requirements for the structure of the concept of candidates for chief prosecutors, as well as the mandatory application of a report on the use of special intelligence means, requests for traffic data and pending, terminated and suspended pre-trial proceedings in which the candidates are in the capacity of an accused or witness. The introduction of the double majority procedure in the election of the chairmen of the Supreme Judicial Council and the Supreme Administrative Court, which consists in the requirement that the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council be adopted by a majority of not less than 17 votes and by a majority of the members directly elected by the judges, is a proposal of the Venice Commission.
The draft law proposes the introduction of an additional majority for the election - a majority of the members from the professional quota (along with the initially required majority of 13 members). It is proposed that the election procedure be at least 6 months, and that the re-proposal in the event of the president's refusal to appoint the selected candidate can be made no earlier than 2 months after the refusal. A hearing of the candidates for chief prosecutors by the National Assembly (NA) is also planned, with the parliament not making a decision related to the evaluation of the candidates, but ensuring the necessary level of publicity and inclusion of other institutions and representatives of civil society in the process.
A number of restrictions are also introduced in relation to the acting Prosecutor General, Chairman of the Supreme Court of Cassation and Chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court, such as a ban on extending an expired mandate by appointing an acting prosecutor; a ban on the acting prosecutor General from participating as a candidate due to a clear conflict of interest, as well as in the event of an unsuccessful election, in the first 6 months after the termination of the procedure, the candidate shall not have the right to be designated as acting prosecutor. It is also envisaged to terminate the open procedures for the election of the Prosecutor General and Chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court at the time of promulgation of the law. It is also proposed to eliminate the inconsistencies in the existing conditions with regard to persons acting temporarily.
The draft law of "There is such a people" (ITN) is aimed at limiting the powers of the Prosecutor General within the framework of his competence as an independent constitutional body and creating real opportunities for the participation of prosecutors and investigators in the administrative activities of the relevant structures. The rule is introduced that there should be two deputies to the Prosecutor General and that only some of the powers of the Prosecutor General may be delegated to them, and that the institute of the Director of the National Investigation Service (NIS) should be preserved under the current regulations. It is also proposed to abolish the powers of the Prosecutor General and his deputies, who have been assigned the relevant powers, to be able to revoke or amend prosecutorial acts in writing.