Minister Naydenov Called For a Choice Between More Than One Candidate for Acting Chief Prosecutor

Justice Minister Nikolay Naydenov has sent a letter to the Prosecutors’ College of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), urging it to put forward to the SJC Plenum a genuine choice between candidates with clearly stated positions and a vision for the prosecution service over the next six months. This was announced by the Ministry of Justice on October 13.

He called for the range of eligible candidates to be widened by 22 October, when the term of the current acting Prosecutor General expires. He also argued that seniority should not be the decisive criterion and that candidates should be interviewed about their intentions. According to Naydenov, the selection process must be visible and transparent in order to restore public trust in the institution.

The minister said the Prosecutors’ College was the body legally and institutionally responsible for ensuring that the full range of candidates was considered before the Plenum made its decision. For this reason, and in view of the ongoing procedure to elect members of the SJC, he will not exercise his right to nominate an acting head of the Prosecutor’s Office. This, he said, would help avoid any suspicion of executive interference in the judiciary.

The second reason cited in the letter was that he had not received personnel records for those who had agreed to take on the role of acting Prosecutor General. According to information provided by the Prosecutor’s Office, two heads of departments at the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor’s Office had agreed to serve in the position for the next six months. Their names were forwarded to the SJC Prosecutors’ College for consideration as part of the nomination process.

The justice minister noted that, since June 2023, the Prosecutor’s Office had in practice been headed by acting officials, despite the Judicial System Act stipulating that this should happen only in exceptional circumstances. Naydenov also recalled that previous selection procedures involving a single candidate had not produced positive outcomes for the Prosecutor’s Office..

The minister expects concrete steps to restore public trust in the institution to be demonstrated within a reasonable period after the new acting Prosecutor General is appointed. These should include improvements to the organisation of work and action to address existing problems, for example at the Sofia City Prosecutor’s Office.

On 7 October, the SJC Prosecutors’ College decided to propose prosecutor Magdalena Lazarova-Prodanova for the position of acting Prosecutor General. If she agrees, the proposal will be put to a vote by the SJC Plenum. She is currently a deputy Prosecutor General and is next in seniority, which is why the position has been offered to her.