A three-member panel of Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Court is to hold its first hearing on the controversial case of dismissed judge Miroslava Todorova on Thursday.

Todorova, Chair of the Bulgarian Judges Association and Judge at the Sofia City Court, is appealing her dismissal by the Supreme Judicial Council.

Todorova was dismissed on July12 on disciplinary grounds over the unreasonable delay of proceedings. However, the move is widely believed to have been triggered by her criticism of the Supreme Judicial Council and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

The Council's decision to dismiss her stirred a large number of political comments and media reports, while Bulgarian judges staged an unprecedented protest rally against the dismissal.

Tsvetanov, who is being sued by Todorova for defamation, firmly rejects claims that he is behind her ousting and explains he learned of her existence and began criticizing her only after people victimized by crime turned to him to complain about her.