Bulgaria Supreme Judicial Council Objects to Bad PR by Interior Min

Bulgaria's Supreme Judicial Council has adopted an official position criticizing the executive for actions that create a negative public image of Bulgaria's judiciary.

"The successful reform of the judicial system cannot be taking place in the conditions of confrontation with other powers and encroachment on its independence," states the position.

The ruling refers to a recent case in which a well-publicized arrest operation by the police was codenamed with the acronym M.I.L.E.V., which turned out to be the family name of a judge that had previously ruled house arrest for the detainee.

This practice has a precedent from a year ago, when in an analogous case a police operation was codenamed R.A.L.I.T.S.A., the first name of another judge.

In both cases, NGOs and the Association of Bulgarian Judges objected that with its actions the Ministry of Interior is interfering with the judiciary's independence and is counter-productively creating an atmosphere of distrust.

"The Supreme Judicial Council believes that the direct association of the acronym of the operation with the name of one of the judges involved in the previous case of the detainee negatively affects the integrity both of the named judge and of the judiciary as a whole," reads Thursday's decision.

The Council further calls on all Bulgarian institutions to cooperate amongst themselves in upholding the rule of law in the country.

This is the first time that the current composition of the Council has taken a critical stance towards actions of the Ministry of Interior.

Bulgarian vice-PM and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov has become notorious with dismissive remarks regarding the judiciary.

In a previous incident at the end of last year, the Supreme Judicial Council failed to act out.