Ivan Taskov, a prosecutor at the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office and a candidate for the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), says every report that a magistrate's independence is under threat should be checked. He says the SJC's prosecutors' panel should rule on such cases with a decision and a formal opinion.

Taskov says a check is needed whatever the structure of the prosecution service, and whether the interference comes from outside or from inside.

He says the finance ministry should take the SJC's view into account when it sets the budget of the judiciary. A bigger SJC budget, he says, also means more independence.

Taskov wants job competitions in the judicial system to follow a new method with clear criteria. He claims that disciplinary cases against magistrates are mostly used as a tool of repression.