Bulgaria`s Chief Prosecutor has suggested that he should be removed from the Supreme Judicial Council. Photo by BGNES
Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev has suggested the removal of Bulgaria's Chief Prosecutor from the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS).
According to Velchev, removing the Chief Prosecutor from VSS will put an end to allegations that the Prosecutor's Office in the country is not subject to control.
At present, the Chairpersons of the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court and the Chief Prosecutor are members of VSS by law.
Velchev has sided with the proposal of Lazar Gruev, Chairman of the Supreme Court of Cassation, and Justice Minister Margarita Popova for two-instance proceedings, saying that this will ease the pressure on the highest courts in the country.
"At present they are finding it hard to fulfill their main constitutional functions, i.e to to ensure a uniform court practice, to issue interpretative rulings and to safeguard the rule of law, because they have been swamped with concrete cases", Velchev claims.
According to Velchev, the division of VSS into two separate bodies may require summoning the Grand National Assembly.
In the meantime, Thursday's session of VSS escalated into heated arguments and a sharp-worded exchanges regarding the makeup of commissions in charge of the competitions for appointing magistrates in the specialized courts.
Bulgaria's newly established specialized criminal court is to become operational in mid-August.
Justice Minister Margarita Popova believes that the commissions must consist of criminal judges only, while VSS members insist that judges conducting civil and administrative cases must not be excluded.