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© Julia Lazarova
Dnevnik traditionally turns to philosophers, political scientists, sociologists and observers at the end of each year to assess the political year 2020 and make forecasts for 2021. Last year has already been rated by Time magazine as the worst yet. for modern people. Was it possible to predict 12 months ago? Did anyone predict the political crisis? Read the balance sheet for 2020 in the days leading up to the New Year and expectations for 2021, after January 1. Today we offer you the answers of Teodor Slavev from the Bulgarian Institute of Legal Initiatives. More summaries: read here.
What is your balance at the end of 2020 for the judiciary? Has something changed and have expectations and forecasts been met?
– Like any other system, the judiciary was strongly influenced by the pandemic. In the first closing in March, outside of a very small type of case, the courts had effectively closed. The question arose as to whether the rights of citizens are not being restricted in this way. The SJC was extremely slow and did not adopt rules for the work of the courts during the crisis until May. Much the problems of the lack of electronic justice were clear. Tensions arose because many cases were postponed and a special form of workload occurred.
Major changes and reforms were lacking, but this may be a good thing, because the current ruling majority has not only shown that it cannot make effective changes, but the ideas put forward publicly (for a “new constitution” and an investigating attorney general) are, to put it mildly of fear. We continue to observe the populism of the Attorney General and the lack of results in the fight against corruption in the government and the misuse of public resources – the prosecution did not see anything illegal in the records of the Prime Minister.
Citizen expectations of legality and justice were not met again. The court and the prosecution are at the bottom in terms of institutional trust. This did not prevent the SJC from distributing more than 20 million BGN in Christmas bonuses, as for the specialized agencies, which are up to 3 salaries, regardless of the results obtained.
What are the biggest changes that have occurred and what are the major issues that have yet to be resolved?
– There were no significant changes in a positive direction on the part of the ruling majority. In this context, public discontent erupted in the summer demanding the resignation of the Attorney General. A debate was held in the European Parliament and a resolution was adopted which, with surgical precision, points out the problems of the rule of law and the fight against corruption in Bulgaria. Bulgaria was also critically appraised in the first report on the Common European Rule of Law Mechanism.
Problems remain, such as the lack of an effective criminal investigation mechanism of the Attorney General, e-justice, court card, etc. etc. So maybe it is good that there are no significant changes, because it is clear that the intentions are not to improve the system, but to ensure the comfort of the political class. The mandate of the inspectors at ISJC expired in March, and the mandate of the chief inspector, in April this year. It is obvious that the parliament does not intend to fulfill its obligation and carry out the selection procedure. We continue to live with the familiar status quo, radical problems, and low-quality legislation.
At the end of 2020, we marked one year since Ivan Geshev was Chief Prosecutor. Where did the prosecution go during this period? What is your assessment of your actions and work during the year?
– The Attorney General continues to behave like a populist and pursues a strange media policy throughout the year. There are no results in the fight against high-level corruption, but although it will take time, the public is tired and disappointed that this chief prosecutor is independent. Unfortunately clearly positioned himself as a political actor and waged an open war against the president, who is the main critic of the government, and on the other hand the prosecution did not see anything illegal in the recordings and leaked photos of the Prime Minister, as well as in the complaints of Vasil Bozhkov and refused to open an investigation. We have no information on a breakthrough in Geshev’s landmark case in the “Corporate Commercial Bank” saga.
One of the biggest actions of the police and the prosecution was related to businesses in the millions: Vasil Bozhkov and the Plamen brothers and Atanas Bobokovi received accusations. What did these actions lead to directly and indirectly?
– They only led to media hype. The accusation against him has not yet been proven in court. If they have indeed broken the law, then society expects this to be proven beyond doubt and punished. If the prosecution fails, the sense that it acts like a bat and is not impartial will be strengthened.
The manifestations of the Prosecutor’s Office -with the entrance to the presidency, as well as the striking arrests of the ministers and vice-ministers in office and the accusations against businessmen, in your opinion, did they serve as a tool to influence and pressure or warn other politicians, statesmen and entrepreneurs?
– As I mentioned, the prosecution under Geshev’s position is positioned as a political entity, which is worrying. His actions led to civil unrest during the summer months. Traditionally, I expect the prosecution to become more active during the election campaign.
© Julia Lazarova
On July 9, the special prosecutor’s office, SANS, and employees of the chief prosecutor’s defense office entered the presidency, and this was one of the reasons for the protests that followed more than 100 days demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Boyko. Borissov and the chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev.
We have witnessed many legislative changes, including a failed attempt to adopt a new Constitution. How do you interpret the attempt to rewrite the Basic Law?
– As a farce to gain political time, as an attempt to vent social tensions. But it may have achieved its goal and diverted the public’s attention from important issues, while at the same time putting the debate on the need for constitutional changes, which is imperative, on the freezer.
The balance also shows that the recommendations of the Venice Commission and the Council of Europe remain unfulfilled and there is no mechanism for an effective investigation by the Attorney General. Will these changes become a reality for the foreseeable future or are they more of an electoral activity?
– Bulgaria continues to fail to fulfill the commitments made under international recommendations. At the end of the year, a group of deputies made a crazy proposal on the fast track to create a figure of chief prosecutor of instruction with a seven-year term, which was approved in first reading.
The deadline set for the nomination and election by the SJC coincides with the end of this parliament. For me, this indicates that The GERB is attempting to elect a second chief prosecutor, thereby diversifying the risk of possible prosecution against the governmentif he is not in power after the elections. This is like creating another tool to induce executive influence in the judiciary.
What are the big events and changes that we can expect in 2021 in the judiciary?
– It remains to be seen whether and how the prosecution mechanism against the Attorney General will be adopted. Certainly, the issue of judicial reform will be the issue of the electoral campaign, and in this sense it is important what are the political demands for the next parliament. It remains to be seen what the SJC will do with the reform of the court map, because there may also be problems there. But it seems that the most important fact is that the procedure for electing a president of the Supreme Court of Cassation should start next year, because Lozan Panov’s term expires in early 2022.
How would you define the year in a word?
– Chaos.
