Krasimir Mazgalov, a judge at the Sofia City Court and a candidate for the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), says anyone who criticises the SJC must be ready to act. Such a person must also answer for fixing the problems that have been identified, he said.
The general assembly of judges will elect the judges' members of the new SJC today.
Mazgalov said he has criticised the SJC's actions and inaction more than once. If the assembly elects him, he would see himself as a direct representative of judges, and his main task would be to keep in constant touch with magistrates. That way, he believes, problems in the judiciary and ways to fix them would come to light in good time.
His priorities are the independence and authority of the judiciary, ending the divisions among magistrates, a fair spread of workload, open career progress and predictable disciplinary practice. Mazgalov said the council must defend the judiciary's independence and at the same time ensure openness, accountability and action against violations.
On staffing, Mazgalov backs objective performance reviews, clear criteria for career progress and more openness in choosing the administrative heads of courts. He proposes specific profiles for senior posts and says the criteria for judging candidates should be made public in advance. The same rules on openness and real competition should apply when choosing the heads of the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court, and the prosecutor general, he said.
He also proposes giving more weight to the opinions of the general assemblies of judges. He calls for a real measure of workload too, based not only on the number of cases but also on their factual and legal complexity, and on the quality and timeliness of the work.