New Bulgarian Constitutional Judges to Take Oath of Office

Society | November 15, 2012, Thursday // 08:22
New Bulgarian Constitutional Judges to Take Oath of Office: New Bulgarian Constitutional Judges to Take Oath of Office The four newly elected Bulgarian constitutional judges will take their oath of office Thursday morning. File photo

The newly elected and appointed Bulgarian constitutional judges are to take their oath of office Thursday.

The Speaker of the Parliament, Tsetska Tsacheva, the President, Rosen Plevneliev, and the Chairs of the Supreme Court of Cassations, and of the Supreme Administrative Court, VAS, will attend the ceremony.

The four new constitutional judges are Georgi Angelov, a magistrate from VAS, elected from the judicial quota, former Chief Prosecutor, Boris Velchev, who was nominated by the President, and the two from the parliamentary quota – former Deputy Speaker of the Parliament from the ruling Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, Anastas Anastasov, and the Deputy Chair of VAS, Veneta Markovska.

Markovska's appointment stirred a huge scandal in Bulgaria over a tipoff sent to Members of the Parliament from the opposition and an investigative journalistic report raising suspicions of trading influence and corruption. The case "Markovska" "traveled" all the way to the European Commission, which warned Bulgaria twice about the possibility of issuing an interim report under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism.

The Parliament voted on the two judges from their quota on October 31, and the oath of office had to be taken on November 7, but was postponed over the scandal.

Markovska, however, notified Wednesday the Chair of the Constitutional Court that she was firm in becoming one of its members and would take the oath. She also submitted her resignation from VAS, which will be voted on by the Supreme Judicial Council, VSS, before the oath takes place.

If VSS accepts the resignation, the judge will be able to participate in the ceremony, scheduled for 11 am.

Plevneliev called on all newly-elected constitutional judges, "except Markovska," to take the oath. Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, reiterated three times he had asked her to drop her bid, while Justice Minister, Diyana Kovacheva, stated the reputation of one person cannot be more important than the reputation of the State.

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Tags: Chief Prosecutor, Boris Velchev, Diyana Kovacheva, Justice Minister, president, Rosen Plevneliev, VAS, cooperation and verification mechanism, GERB, VSS, Supreme Judicial Council, resignation, Minister Boyko Borisov, Prime, Constitutional Court, European Commission, Supreme Administrative Court, Veneta Markovska, oath of office, constitutional judges, Georgi Angelov

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