Judicial Committee plenary session resumes after constitutional amendments are repealed

© Wilco Angelov

It is expected that the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) will re-elect Boyan Magdalinchev as a representative to the plenary session of the committees at the first meeting of the two committees with 15 votes “in favor” and 1 vote “against” from Atanaska Disheva of the Judicial Committee. On July 26, the Constitutional Court declared the amendment to the Basic Law invalid.which is divided into two – the Supreme Judicial Council and the Supreme Procuratorial Council – and plans to hold plenary sessions rather than plenary sessions.

Boyan Magdalenchev’s proposal was put forward by Stefan Petrov and supported by Georgy Cholakov.
During the brief discussion, Disheva refuted the considerations and motivations she had already expressed, adding that she was aware of the “formal nature of this vote.” Magdalenchev himself did not vote on his nomination, and the meeting was chaired by Justice Minister Maria Pavlova.

The Budget and Finance Committee has 6 or 8 members

After a short debate on whether the Budget and Finance Committee should have 6 or 8 members, Atanaska Disheva commented that this should not lead to a situation where members of the Prosecutor’s College allocate budgets to the courts and the judiciary as a whole, and vice versa. “Ms. Disheva’s theory is very conspiratorial,” commented Georgy Kuzmanov.

Thus, Boyan Magdalenchev, Sevdarin Mavrov and Olga Kreska from the Council of Judges and Gergana Mutafova, Karina Chapkanova and Stefan Petrov from the Council of Prosecutors were proposed and voted as members of the Commission – three members each.

Constitutional Court concludes judicial reform (Update)

According to the ruling of the Constitutional Court, the previous powers of the plenary session regarding the allocation of the judicial budget will also be restored. They will not be reviewed, discussed and voted on individually, but will be reviewed, discussed and voted on by the plenary session.

It is not clear when successors to two of the “Big Three” will be chosen

The plenary session of the Supreme Judicial Council can now resume the public and suspended process of electing a new chief prosecutor, who will take up the post and replace Borislav Sarafov, who is acting on an interim basis, and start another process of electing a new president of the Supreme Administrative Court. There is no indication yet when this will happen.

This judicial committee should not elect the chief prosecutor and the president of the Supreme Administrative Court.

According to the Judiciary Law, the election process for the troika must be initiated between six and four months before the expiration of the term of office of the president of the Supreme Court or the president of the Supreme Court and the prosecutor in general. The process of electing a new chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court to replace Georgy Cholakov is already late.

The SJC’s composition itself had long since expired, but following another ruling by the Constitutional Court, it continued to operate, though it is unclear when.