In a landmark legislative act, deputies voted with an impressive 176 votes "in favor" of fundamental transformations in the judicial system. The Ministry of Justice initiated large-scale changes that will essentially alter the practice of interrogations and expert assessments.
The key innovation is the introduction of alternative channels for expert interrogations. Experts will now be able to provide their opinions via video conference or telephone connection when physical presence is objectively impossible. The goal of this innovation is to drastically reduce cases of judicial delays due to expert absence.
Minister Georgi Georgiev emphasized that the changes aim to optimize the judicial system. Parallel to remote interrogations, significantly stricter requirements for judicial experts are being introduced, especially in the field of automotive technical expertise.
The new regulations provide for a mandatory exam to acquire professional competence and annual qualification upgrades. The only exception will apply to university lecturers with academic positions of associate professor or professor from established scientific institutions.
Lists of experts will undergo systematic updates - twice a year, through specialized commissions. Additionally, the period for proposals between first and second reading has been drastically reduced to just 3 days, which accelerates the legislative process.
During the discussions, alternative draft laws from the political formations "Vazrazhdane" and PP-DB were rejected. Their proposals included expanding restrictions on approaching defendants to victims and introducing additional investigation methods.
It is significant that from their own 36-member group, only 11 deputies participated in the voting, with one abstaining. This raises questions about complete political consensual understanding.
The adopted changes demonstrate a modern approach to justice, combining technological solutions with raising professional standards in judicial expertise.