Bulgaria's Parliament to Elect 2 Constitutional Court Judges

Bulgaria's Parliament is to elect Wednesday two members of the Constitutional Court (KS).

The two members of KS from the parliamentary quota will be chosen among four candidates, including the two Deputy Parliament Chairs, Anastas Anastasov and Ekaterina Mihaylova, Deputy Chair of the Supreme Administrative Court (VAS) Veneta Markovska, and Tatyana Varbanova, Judge at the Supreme Court of Cassation (VKS).

The hearings of the candidates at the Parliamentary Legal Committee were held last week, according to reports of dnevnik.bg.

The nomination of Veneta Markovska stirred heated debates as socialist MP Yanaki Stoilov reported a tip-off against her related to the court practice of VAS.

Stoilov, however, failed to give details about the tip-off, urging Markovska to acquaint herself with the matter.

Legal Affairs Committee Chair Iskra Fidosova barred a discussion on the matter, saying that Stoilov had disregarded the rules of procedure which did not admit anonymous signals.

The issue was not brought up for discussion even after it turned out that the signal had been signed.

On Tuesday, the European Commission sharply criticized Bulgaria's Parliament for hiding signals about Constitutional Court judge nominees which raised doubts about the integrity of the candidates.

The EC underscored that all accusations of corruption and conflict of interest had to be cleared to defend the reputation of the institution.