Bulgaria moves for transparency in election of top judges

(SOFIA) - Bulgaria, often criticised by the EU for its judiciary's inefficiency and lack of transparency, began its first ever public hearings of candidates for the top judicial body, parliament announced on Tuesday.

The election of a new 25-member Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), which governs all further appointments in the system over a five-year period, is being closely watched by the European Commission as the council will soon appoint a new chief prosecutor.

Parliament on Tuesday began hearing 17 candidates, of which it will pick 11 to join the SJC.

The judges associations will grill 34 more candidates to fill 11 other seats, with the chief prosecutor and the chiefs of the country's supreme appeals and administrative courts filling the remaining three spots by right.

Brussels had earlier recommended a direct election of all council members, in a push for transparency, but parliament rejected the proposal, arguing it was technically impossible to organise a vote with all judges, who number several thousand.

To ensure maximum publicity of the election process however, the hearings will be broadcast live on radio, television and the internet.

Legal experts welcomed the move for transparency on Tuesday.

Mirela Veselinova, chief editor of the Bulgarian magazine Legal World, however observed that parliament's questioning of the candidates was "rather pro forma."

Ivanka Ivanova from the Bulgarian branch of the Open Society Institute also criticised the focus on the candidates' long careers in the system instead of their integrity.

The current council had come under massive criticism over the past few years for failing to quarantee transparency and impartiality in its appointments and especially for the controversial sacking of the head of the largest judges' union in July.

Bulgaria and neighbouring Romania have been struggling to reform their slow and inefficient judiciaries, as well as do away with rampant corruption and organised crime ever since joining the EU in 2007 and are still subjected to strict monitoring.