Bulgaria’s President Signs Decree to Appoint Supreme Administrative Court Chief

Pursuant to Art. 129, para. 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, on 23^rd of October President Roumen Radev signed a decree for the appointment of Georgi Cholakov as chairperson of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC).

In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, the Chairperson of the Supreme Administrative Court and Chief Prosecutor shall be appointed and dismissed by the President of the Republic at the proposal of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) plenum for a period of seven years without the right to re-election.

Cholakov was first elected as chair of SAC by the old SJC, but President Radev refused to decree his appointment because he said the election would have been more legitimate if carried out by the newly elected SJC. The new SJC decided not to repeat the procedure from the beginning and chose instead to interview the elected candidate and take a confirmation vote. The Bulgarian President may not refuse to appoint Cholakov a second time.