Judge Milena Karagyozova has called for a public list of court rulings that are written late. She told parliament's legal affairs committee that it is wrong to wait for one judge to finish writing his or her rulings. She is a candidate for member of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).

The "Progressive Bulgaria" parliamentary group nominated her. She is one of 20 candidates from the parliamentary quota, whose hearings are now in their third day. MPs from "Progressive Bulgaria", GERB-SDS, "Democratic Bulgaria", "We Continue the Change" and "Revival" questioned her.

Karagyozova has nearly 30 years of legal experience, most of it in criminal justice. She spent 21 years at the District Court in Gorna Oryahovitsa. She has been a judge at the Regional Court in Veliko Tarnovo since 2022. There she has also been deputy president since 2024 and heads the criminal division. She was also an assistant in criminal law.

In her policy paper, Karagyozova proposes that competitions for judicial posts be held regularly. In disciplinary checks, she wants clear and equal criteria and the same principles applied to everyone.

She says judicial independence has two sides. One is protecting the whole system from outside influence. The other is the personal independence of each magistrate, with no interference in the case they are hearing.

Asked by "Progressive Bulgaria", she said she understands the work of prosecutors because she reviews and assesses prosecutors' acts herself. She also noted that the chief prosecutor serves a seven-year term and an SJC member serves five. When her term ends, she will go back to court, where the person she voted for, or against, will have no "hierarchical" power over her.

She told GERB-SDS that the political quota in the SJC works well. In her view, judges from the prosecutors' quota would not have let the current dependencies develop.

"Democratic Bulgaria" asked her about appointing deputies from lower levels of the courts and the prosecution service. Karagyozova said such a decision needs strong reasons, because the law treats it as an exception, yet it has now become the norm. Staff shortages are big, she explained, so a manager may look for administrative skills in deputies as well. Promotion competitions, she said, guarantee their professional skills.

"We Continue the Change" asked her about Sotir Tsatsarov, Georgi Cholakov, Borislav Sarafov and circles of influence. Karagyozova said nobody has tried to influence her. Of the three, she has met only Tsatsarov, once, when he was chief prosecutor, and they simply greeted each other.

Asked by "Revival", she said she does not accept personnel decisions being brought in at the last minute and will push for a mechanism to prevent it.

The candidates are being heard from 2 to 6 November. The sessions are streamed live on the parliament website and the BTA website.