The judiciary must clean itself up from within, judge Ivan Kalibatsev said at a hearing before parliament's legal affairs committee, where he is a candidate for the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) from the parliamentary quota. He also proposed changes to how junior judges and court heads are chosen, electronic justice and a redraw of the court map.
Hearings for the 20 candidates from parliament's quota run from 2 to 6 November and are streamed live on the National Assembly website. The first four, for the Judges' College, appeared before the committee on Monday. That day, MP Raya Nazaryan told reporters that GERB-SDS could back candidates from both the ruling parties and the opposition. Kalibatsev was heard on the third day.
What happened before: Legal affairs committee hears first four candidates for Supreme Judicial Council from parliament's quota
Progressive Bulgaria nominated him. He has more than 22 years of legal experience, all of it in judicial bodies, and has headed two district courts, in Asenovgrad and Plovdiv.
The SJC is the main body charged with protecting the independence of the judiciary and of every magistrate, Kalibatsev said, and there should be no doubt of outside interference in its work. He promised to push for active dialogue with the legislative and executive branches.
Competitions for junior judges should work in a new way, with an objective assessment of candidates and no outside interference or influence, he said. The procedures should be simpler and easier.
For court heads, he wants candidates checked in advance, short seminars and a test of their skills. Asked by GERB-SDS about the criteria, he said managerial skills are needed.
Asked by Progressive Bulgaria about electronic justice in the prosecution service, Kalibatsev said investigating bodies have nothing like it now. In his view, they should introduce an information system in which documents are prepared in real time. Supervising prosecutors would then react in time and investigations would move faster. The aim is for every party to be able to join hearings remotely, which would help the budget be spent more wisely.
Democratic Bulgaria asked what to do when someone applies pressure. The SJC has a way to respond, but it does not work well enough, Kalibatsev said. It needs active steps, not just a statement, to make it beyond doubt that such pressure is unacceptable.
Asked by We Continue the Change about the prosecutor general, the candidate said the powers of that post are limited enough. Whoever holds it must be honest and independent and must strengthen the image of the prosecution service.
The country is losing people, while judicial bodies have big staff and resources but little work, Kalibatsev said in reply to a question from Revival. Many courts and prosecutors' offices are in small places, so in his view the court map should be redrawn.
If electronic justice allows remote proceedings, the workload will ease, the candidate said. Territorial branches could then work only when needed, without keeping staff on site all the time.