Caretaker Minister of Justice Andrey Yankulov is convening a meeting of the plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on February 26, and in the agenda of the meeting, the minister proposes a single point: the appointment of an acting Prosecutor General. This was announced by the press center of the Ministry of Justice.
In his motives, Minister Yankulov refers to the opinion of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Cassation that after July 21, 2025, the Republic of Bulgaria will not have a legitimate acting Prosecutor General. A situation in which the supreme judges do not recognize the Prosecutor General is intolerable in a state governed by law, the motives also state.
The Ministry of Justice points out that for more than half a year, the prosecution - one of the most important state bodies with key powers in law enforcement, has been functioning without the necessary guarantees for the accurate and uniform application of the laws by all prosecutors, which guarantees the Constitution personalizes in the figure of the Prosecutor General. This delegitimizes and deprives of public trust not only this institution, but also justice in Bulgaria, the ministry also points out.
“In his almost three-year illegitimate “de facto mandate” Borislav Sarafov has not performed a single action that builds public and professional trust regarding his management qualities. He did not fulfill any of his key statements given when he took office. For example, to clean the prosecution from the parallel justice network "The Eight Dwarfs", the unraveling of which, according to him, is a “key bet for the further normal functioning of the entire prosecution institution”, Minister Yankulov states. At present, nothing from the “The Eight Dwarfs” affair has been convincingly clarified by the institution actually led by Borislav Sarafov, the ministry's announcement also states.
BTA recalls that with the latest amendments to the Law on the Judiciary, the parliament determined that in the event of early termination or expiration of the term of office of the Prosecutor General, the President of the Supreme Court of Cassation or the President of the Supreme Administrative Court, an acting person shall be appointed to the respective functions, and the same person is not entitled to perform the respective functions for a period longer than six months, regardless of whether there were interruptions in the performance of the functions.
On July 9, the members of the Prosecutor's College of the SJC voted not to appoint a new acting Prosecutor General. They justified their decision with the fact that the legal changes do not apply to existing cases, such as Borislav Sarafov. He was appointed acting Prosecutor General on June 16, 2023.