Mrs. Margarita Popova commented on the recent scandal provoked by the Mr. Tsvetanov‘ s accusations against Mrs. Miroslava Todorova, the Chair of the Bulgarian Judges Association which claimed that she had deliberately postponed a case against organized crime. The independence of the judiciary is a democratic value and such attacks against the court institution should be ceased immediately, stated Mrs. Popova. Judges should be independent in their main function to uphold judicial independence and maintain the respect of citizens and institutions towards the court.
She expressed concerns that such scandals may lead to monitoring of the independence of the judiciary by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), there is already such monitoring on corruption. The Vice-President reminded of the on-going project on transparency of the judicial appointments of senior civil servants, developed in coordination with a group of non-governmental organizations, which will result in a proposal for rules for the presidential appointments procedure. The intent is that it will work as a role model indicating the need to publicity also in the judiciary.
To the full text of: The new Bulgarian Vice-President appealed to respected the court and not to insult the institution