Prosecutor General refers to the Constitutional Court over the closing down of specialised courts and specialised prosecutor's offices

Bulgaria’s Prosecutor General has submitted a request to the Constitutional Court to declare provisions of the Law on Amendments of and Additions to the Judiciary Act as unconstitutional. The provisions relate to the closure of specialised courts and specialised prosecutor's offices and the relevant investigative bodies, the status of magistrates and officials, the change in the jurisdiction of criminal cases, the time limits for the entry into force of certain texts of the law.

The Law on Amendments of and Additions to the Law on Criminal Procedure adopted by the 47th National Assembly not only does not guarantee the protection of the constitutional rights of citizens and legal entities, but also has a negative impact on the criminal procedure due to the serious problems laid down in it and may even paralyse the activity of the judiciary in the pending proceedings, the request states.

The conditions and procedure for the reassignment of magistrates can be seen as an infringement of the independence of the judiciary, which violates the principle of separation of powers.

Provisions for the transfer of cases to other judicial authorities create conditions for jeoperdising certainty. The transfer of these cases to the Sofia City Court and the district courts in the country will have an impact on the speed and efficiency of the administration of justice, as it is linked to the need for material and technical support and to ensuring appropriate conditions for their examination in view of the specific nature of the cases, Geshev says.

It will take time for the panels of judges to familiarise themselves with them.For some cases, this delay may have irreversible negative consequences related to demotivation of witnesses, the expiry of the statute of limitations for the prosecution of certain crimes, etc., the prosecutor's office said.

The request draws attention to the fact that two of the transitional and final provisions of the Law on the Protection of the Status of the Prosecutor's Office oblige the SJC to reappoint magistrates from the specialised structures according to established mandatory quotas, and according to unclear criteria, generating legal uncertainty and the risk of wrongfully giving some prosecutors magistrates an advantage and discriminating against other prosecutors, judges and investigators.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the legislative decision on juries, according to which their mandate is terminated upon the entry into force of the law, is also unconstitutional. There is also complete ambiguity regarding the regulation of employment relations of the judicial administration - the right to free choice of place of work is violated, as one of the amendments provides for the forced and arbitrary transfer of employees, the Prosecutor General's request further states.

"The closure of an entire type of specialized courts and prosecutor’s offices without the necessary guarantees for the protection of citizens' rights and interests and for magistrates' immutability will significantly hinder the normal functioning of the judiciary and the honouring of international treaties to which Bulgaria is a party," the request said.

The Prosecutor General points out that the legislator has the power to decide how to regulate specific public relations, but the closure of the specialised justice system without the existence of necessity and specific public interest undermines the principle established in the Basic Law that Bulgaria is a state governed by the rule of law and in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of the country.

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