Bulgaria's ruling center-right party GERB and its nationalist allies "Ataka" supported the creation of a special tribunal to try suspected mafia bosses and high-level corruption.

This happened as the Parliament adopted at first reading amendments to the Judicial Authority Act, which included also several other provisions: new rules for admission to positions in the judiciary, and checks by the State National Security Agency DANS on members of the Supreme Judicial Council before these top magistrates are allowed access to classified information.

All changes were opposed by the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party and ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS).

The right-wing Blue Coalition, which is an uneasy partner of GERB in the informal ruling coalition, voted against the anti-mafia tribunal but supported the other changes.

All three formations opposed to the new special courts claimed it had the form of an emergency court, which was a "legal" absurd and a violation of the Constitution. The opposition MPs believe that the ruling party GERB can use the anti-mafia tribunal for political persecution.

"The new courts will be emergency or special and will serve the wishes of the prosecution. The major goal of the Interior Ministry and DANS to have a court of their own has been achieved," said Chetin Kazak, MP from DPS.

"Any specialized court must be clearly defined, or we cannot support its creation," declared Ekatirina Mihaylova from the Blue Coalition.

Socialist MP Yanaki Stoilov slammed the new court as "emergency specialized". He said the 15-day period within the new court will be obliged to come with a ruling amounted to constant pressure, and criticized the other amendments to the Judiciary Act as seeking to limit the opportunities for appointing magistrates.

The ruling party GERB has advertised its "anti-mafia" tribunal idea by saying that the judiciary as a whole is overloaded with cases, and "incapable" of coping with organized crime. Its MPs said the new court will be designed specially to tackle a certain kind of criminals.

The anti-mafia court is also supposed to alleviate the work of other courts.

"Do you really think that this court will be subservient to DANS and the Interior Ministry when it will employ experienced judges and prosecutors," MP Yuliana Koleva from the GEBR stated.

Bulgaria's Justice Minister Margarita Popova has backed all amendments adopted on Wednesday.

The new Bulgarian tribunal would be able to request and issue warrants for the use of special surveillance devices. It would hold uninterrupted sessions on about 250 – 300 cases per year. The appeals would go to the Supreme Court of Cassations.

If the bill passes at second reading in the Parliament, the new court must begin functioning in January, 2011.

The anti-mafia tribunal has been advertised by Prime Minister Boyko and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov as the only was crack down on organized crime. In the past few months, Tsvetanov has been tangled in a war with the judiciary constantly slamming the courts upon specific rulings. The latest case in hand was Tuesday's decision to release from jail former undercover agent Aleksei Petrov, who was arrest in February 2010 in the much advertised police operation Octopus.

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