Key amendments to the Judiciary Act

The temporary parliamentary committee on legal affairs has taken an important step toward judicial reform by passing three bills to amend the Judiciary Act (JA) at the first reading.

The main goal of the proposed changes is to limit the influence of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) with an expired mandate in making strategic personnel decisions.

Key highlights of the bills:

  • Limiting the mandate: Members of the SJC whose mandate has expired lose the right to vote on personnel changes and long-term decisions.
  • PP proposals: Stricter criteria for the moral character of candidates and the inclusion of representatives from Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski," the BAS, and the Union of Lawyers in the colleges.
  • DB proposals: Nomination of members by the National Assembly to be conducted through high-ranking law faculties and the Supreme Bar Council.
  • PB proposals: A ban on former chairmen of the Supreme Administrative Court, the Supreme Court of Cassation, and former Prosecutors General (from the last 7 years) from becoming members of the SJC, as well as granting the Minister of Justice the right to suspend the Council's decisions.

The voting in the committee passed with a majority, as the bills from PP and DB were supported with 21 votes "for," while the PB proposal received unanimous support with 23 votes.