Atanas Gebrev, a prosecutor at the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's Office, is running for a seat on the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) as a representative of prosecutors. He has presented a plan to change how prosecutors are promoted and transferred, how heads of offices are appointed, and how discipline works.
Gebrev says he has the qualifications and long experience in every area of the judiciary. "I can be useful in reforming the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and the prosecution service, and in restoring and defending the rule of law," he said.
Gebrev says the judiciary has lost public trust. In his words, "for the past fifteen years or so the judiciary did not use its legal powers to keep the other branches of power in check", and this failure to act is the reason for public anger.
Every public body, including the courts, should be led by the best people, the prosecutor says. He means people of high moral standing and wide professional and life experience, who know the body's problems and can make the best decisions. Gebrev calls this a minimum requirement, but one of prime importance for the normal work of the judiciary and the state, and even more so for SJC members, who represent the whole judiciary.
Under the plan, competitions for promotion and transfer would be held on a mandatory yearly schedule. Candidates would enter with their performance appraisal already done. Prosecutors would move up step by step, based on qualifications, skills and experience, without skipping levels.
Members of the selection panels should be magistrates whose last appraisal gave them an overall rating of "very good". Gebrev also proposes an extra interview in which candidates would be asked about their own prosecutorial acts, their past work and their views on the work of the office they are applying to.
Competitions should also return for choosing administrative heads. Gebrev says senior posts in the prosecution service should go to prosecutors with professional and personal authority, who have the respect and support of their colleagues. The criteria the council uses to decide should be clear, objective and verifiable: professional and moral qualities and management skills.
On discipline, Gebrev proposes a review of the decisions of the SJC's Prosecutors' Chamber and of Supreme Administrative Court rulings on appeals in disciplinary cases. The review should look for gaps in how evidence is gathered and weighed, a lack of clear criteria for matching penalties to the offence, and different outcomes in similar cases.
Gebrev also calls for changes to the law that would sharpen the rules on discipline and stop it being used to pressure magistrates. He says the prosecutors' community needs to follow ethical standards more strictly, and the independence of magistrates must be guaranteed.