European Commission’s 2023 Rule of Law report on Bulgaria sees progress in some areas
The European Commission’s 2023 Rule of Law report on Bulgaria, the fourth in an annual series, sees progress in some areas but none in others, in assessing performance on recommendations in previous reports.
According to the report, released on July 5, Bulgaria has made significant progress on ensuring timely ordinary competitions for promotion to avoid long-term secondment of judges to fill in vacant positions, taking into account European standards on secondment of judges.
The report says that there has been no progress yet on advancing with the legislative amendments aiming at improving the functioning of the Inspectorate to the Supreme Judicial Council and avoiding the risk of political influence, in particular by involving judicial bodies in the selection of its members.
There also has been no progress yet on taking steps to adapt the composition of the Supreme Judicial Council, taking into account European standards on Councils for the Judiciary.
There has been some progress regarding corruption prevention measures aimed at improving the integrity of specific sectors of the public administration, including the police and the judiciary, according to the report.
The report says that there has been progress on improving the effectiveness of investigation and a robust track-record of prosecution and final convictions in high-level cases of corruption including through the institutional reform of the Anti-Corruption Commission and specialised judicial authorities
It says that there has been some progress on improving transparency in the allocation of state advertising, in particular with regard to state advertising contracted through intermediaries, such as media agencies.
The report sets out a number of recommendations for Bulgaria, in addition to recalling the commitments made under the national Recovery and Resilience Plan relating to certain aspects of the justice system and the anti-corruption framework.
Bulgaria should take steps to adapt the relevant legislative framework to avoid long-term secondment of judges to fill in vacant positions, taking into account European standards on secondment of judges, the report said.
It should advance with the preparation of legislative amendments aiming at improving the functioning of the Inspectorate to the Supreme Judicial Council and avoiding the risk of political influence, in particular by involving judicial bodies in the selection of its members.
The report recommends that Bulgaria steps up efforts to adapt the composition of the Supreme Judicial Council, taking into account European standards on Councils for the Judiciary.
Bulgaria should ensure an improved effectiveness of investigations and a robust track-record of prosecution and final judgments in high-level corruption cases including through the institutional reforms of the Anti-Corruption Commission.
The report calls for improving the integrity of top executive functions, taking into account European standards, in particular by ensuring that clear integrity standards for the Government as well as an appropriate sanctioning mechanism are in place.
Bulgaria should advance with the work aimed at improving transparency in the allocation of state advertising, in particular with regard to state advertising contracted through intermediaries, such as media agencies.
The full version of the report is available at this link.
(Illustration: Sergio Roberto Bichara/sxc.hu)
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