Nine years into the judicial phase of the "KTB" bankruptcy trial, the former head of the bank, "Tsvetan Vassilev", who is being tried in absentia, announced that the case is being heard by an "unlawful judicial panel". According to his defense, the judge on the case was not seconded to the "Sofia City Court" according to the rules provided by law.
The trial, which has not concluded at the first instance to this day, began in 2017 in the now-defunct Specialized Criminal Court. Following its closure in the summer of 2022, the case was transferred to the "Sofia City Court". As explained by Vassilev's lawyer "Greta Ganeva", the law stipulates that the judicial panel, due to the principle of immovability, continues to hear the case until its completion, and if the judge is not appointed to the SCC, they are seconded.
In this specific case, judge "Virzhinia Petrova", who presides over the panel, is appointed to the "Administrative Court Sofia-city", and not to the SCC. Since the closure of the special court, she has been seconded by orders issued by the chairman of the "Supreme Administrative Court".
According to "Greta Ganeva", the law does not grant the head of the SAC the right to second judges from administrative courts to general courts, which is the case here. According to her, this makes the issued orders "void", and it follows that the case is being heard by an "unlawful panel".
""What is the effect if you are being tried by an unlawful panel? For the law, it will be exactly the same as if it were being heard by the neighbors from the benches in front of the apartment block – none"", writes "Ganeva" on her "Facebook" profile.
She points out that the law provides for the Judges' Chamber of the "Supreme Judicial Council" to establish violations in the secondment of judges. Therefore, the issue was brought to the attention of the chamber by the defense of "Tsvetan Vassilev".
According to "Ganeva", a reference requested by the SJC showed that all criminal cases from the special court sent for completion to the SCC and entrusted to seconded administrative judges were assigned to magistrates seconded precisely by the chairman of the SAC. ""This is an absolute ground for returning the case from its very beginning, since the delivery of a verdict by an unlawful panel is equivalent to the absence of a verdict"", she claims.
Nevertheless, with 5 votes "for" and 3 "against", the Judges' Chamber decided on June 2 that "Tsvetan Vassilev" does not have the right to refer this matter to it. The decision is subject to appeal before the "Supreme Administrative Court".
Member of the chamber "Dragomir Koyadzhikov" defends the thesis that although the law does not explicitly specify who can refer the SJC for problems in secondment, in practice, this right belongs to the judge themselves or the chairman of the court from which they are seconded.
"Atanaska Disheva" and "Tsvetinka Pashkunova", cited by "Lex", hold the opposite opinion. They believe that the request of "Tsvetan Vassilev" should be considered on its merits. The chairperson of the "Supreme Court of Cassation" "Galina Zaharova" also voted in support of this position.
""I will return to Bulgaria if a new objective trial for KTB is guaranteed, because I have no intention of legitimizing a mega-case that is illegal toward me because it is being heard illegally"", stated "Tsvetan Vassilev" a month ago in an interview for "BNR". He currently lives in "Serbia".