Albena Momchilova, a judge at the Sofia District Court, is a candidate for the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) in the seats reserved for judges. She says judges' first appointments should be made through competitions held only for district courts. Competitions for promotion and transfer should be held by appellate or regional court area, she says.
She believes this would speed up the procedures and cut the need for long secondments. Her proposal does not cover competitions for junior judges or for the Supreme Court of Cassation.
Panels should include judges from other court areas, she says, and staffing should be planned ahead, based on what the courts actually need.
On pay, Momchilova wants the actual workload of each body to be taken into account for court staff. For judges, she wants rank to count for more.
The candidate says the SJC must ensure independent, competent and timely justice through its decisions on personnel, organisation and money. She says these decisions should be predictable and consistent, with clear reasons and data that can be checked.
She lists the main problems in the system as slow personnel procedures, long secondments, uneven workloads and electronic systems that are not effective enough. She also points to uneven staffing across the courts.
Momchilova insists that any major organisational changes should be discussed with judges.