Judicial Council Plenum Debates Appointment of Acting Prosecutor General

The Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council on February 26 is discussing a proposal by caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Andrey Yankkulov to appoint a new acting Chief Prosecutor. The debate opened with a dispute over whether the Plenum itself or the separate colleges of the council have the authority to appoint interim heads.

Yankkulov described the decision of the College of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office — that Teodora Georgieva committed a serious disciplinary breach and should be proposed for dismissal to the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the Court of Justice of the European Union — as yet another heavy blow to the reputation of Bulgaria’s justice system.

“This once again gives us grounds to believe that more should have been done to dismantle the networks of parallel justice in Bulgaria — one of which is the so-called ‘Eight Dwarfs’. From this point onward, regardless of how much time has been lost, the main task for those involved in the governance of the justice system must be to clarify these cases as fully as possible, so that we do not face similar situations in the future,” Yankkulov said.

• Caretaker Justice Minister Yankkulov Comments after EPPO Finds Bulgarian European Prosecutor Georgieva Guilty: Another Serious Blow to the Reputation of Bulgaria’s Justice System

The Plenum is meeting on a single item on its agenda — the caretaker Justice Minister’s proposal to appoint a new acting Prosecutor General.

At the start of the session, Yankkulov set out why he had convened the meeting on this issue and why he believes the Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council is the competent body to choose an acting Prosecutor General.

Andrey Yankulov, caretaker deputy prime minister and minister of justice: “The first [priority] was to remove the prosecution service from the muddy terrain of politics. There was a pledge that everything would be done to unravel the ‘Eight Dwarfs’ network. Nothing was clarified. There was a pledge that everything would be done to unravel the ‘Eight Dwarfs’ network… nothing was clarified,” he said.

Ognyan Damyanov, a member of the Prosecutors’ College of the council:
“The first question we must discuss is whether the Plenum is competent to rule on the matter referred to it. At the Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council, and then by a significant majority, it was accepted that the separate colleges are competent — both with regard to the Chief Prosecutor and to the supreme courts.”

Atanaska Disheva, a member of the Judges’ College:
“If you accept that the Plenum is not competent, then members of the Prosecutors’ College determining an acting Chief Prosecutor… that person would not be competent to perform the functions.”

Members of the Prosecutors’ College also explained why they believe recent legislative amendments do not affect their 2023 decision to appoint Borislav Sarafov as Acting Prosecutor General.

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