The hearing of the candidates for members of the Supreme Judicial Council from Parliament’s quota has continued into its twelfth hour. The Legal Affairs Committee is sitting with almost all its members present, while the nominees for the next Judicial College are presenting their concepts and answering questions from MPs.
There are 13 candidates, nominated by “Progressive Bulgaria”, “We Continue the Change”, “Democratic Bulgaria” and “Revival”. They include serving and former judges, as well as lawyers. At 9:00 p.m., Tsveta Rangelova, nominated by “Revival”, began presenting her concept. She is a former MP and lawyer.
Rangelova is next to last on the list. After her, Judge Tsvyatko Lazarov is due to address the committee. He is the personal nominee of Rumen Milanov, an MP from “Progressive Bulgaria”. Lazarov is the magistrate associated with the beginning of the public unraveling of the network surrounding Martin Bozhanov, known as the Notary.
Questions about the “Notary” and “Euro”
During the hearings, MPs have asked the candidates about the networks surrounding Bozhanov, Petyо Petrov, known as Euro, and Krаsyo Chernichkiya. Earlier nominees criticized the personnel decisions of the current Supreme Judicial Council, whose mandate has expired, as well as its response to the lobbying scandals involving the “Notary” and “Euro”.
Among the topics discussed is also the election of a prosecutor general, which will be one of the first tasks facing the new body if the candidates for Parliament’s quota receive the necessary support of 160 MPs. During the previous hearing, Judge Svetozar Georgiev raised the issue of magistrates being wiretapped:
“Every 17th magistrate is being wiretapped! What does this cause? Fear in society. Do we need fearful magistrates?”
In an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio, Nadezhda Yordanova said that the nominations should be assessed according to professional qualities, independence and the absence of dependencies. “We will decide who is acceptable and who is not after the hearings,” she said. Yordanova added that support for Supreme Judicial Council members should not become the result of party deals.
The candidates for the Prosecutorial College are next
After the hearings of the candidates for the Judicial College are completed, the Legal Affairs Committee will move on to the nominations for the Prosecutorial College. MPs are due to hear a total of eight candidates over the next two days.
Sources: bnrnews.bg