Has the judicial system in Bulgaria improved?

The efforts and measures of the Bulgarian government aimed at combating organised crime and corruption, as well as at reforms in the judicial system, have been positively assessed by the majority of NATO members during the Geneva Human Rights Council’s annual review on Bulgaria. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov presented a report before 45 countries. The positive assessment confirmed Brussels’ support for reforms in the Bulgarian judicial system - one that has made the EC continue monitoring the country for 4 year after Bulgaria joined the EU. It is a fact that there have been a lot of changes in the legislation in order to limit delays and make procedures easier. However, statistics show that Bulgarians have doubts in the judicial system, although 95% of the so-called regular trials in court end in guilty verdicts. The cases of high social and media interest, however, end in 95% acquittals. These are generally people, accused of being mafia bosses. What do Bulgarians who have experience with the judicial system think about justice? Have things become better? Radio Bulgaria made a brief survey among the people waiting in the corridors of the Court House in Sofia. None of the people asked, however, answered positively the question, despite legislation changes in the judicial system made during 2010, and supported by Brussels and Washington. According to 72-year-old engineer Kuzman Mechevski, people with power are not interested in changing the current situation.

“The issues in the judicial system will be difficult to solve,” he says. “They will try to do it fast, but this will not happen so easy. There re a number of interests involved. The president and the MPs are interested in delaying the reforms.”

35-year-old Dimka has a similar opinion. She knows that in order for a trial to end in Bulgaria, months or years pass. This means a lot money and time, while the decision of the court could still be unsatisfactory.

“This is an extremely slow system. Trials drag on and I don’t really know what the reason is. In my opinion the quality of judicial services in Bulgaria is very low. And there is no justice, as well,” the woman says.

Radio Bulgaria received similar answers in the district court.

“The system is very slow. I can even say it is sluggish,” says 50-year-old Ms. Hristova.

We met Maria, who was in the court as a witness in a never-ending trial. Asked by Radio Bulgaria, if the judicial system has improved over the years, the woman answered:
“I am not really acquainted with the reforms but I think there are no positive changes. There is something wrong in the whole system. I would like everything in this country to happen faster, in order to live our lives when we are young. I am a witness in a minor trial and they have called me here hundreds of times, which is really getting on my nerves,” Maria says.

quote "

“I am not really acquainted with the reforms but I think there are no positive changes end quote "



if I wrote how I honestly felt about ,in response to the title of this post , I would probably be banned for extremly bad lanquage and attitude !! :

suffice to say , i agree with the above quote !

varnagirl wrote:

quote "

“I am not really acquainted with the reforms but I think there are no positive changes end quote "



if I wrote how I honestly felt about ,in response to the title of this post , I would probably be banned for extremly bad lanquage and attitude !! :

suffice to say , i agree with the above quote !

Very politely put

Has the judicial system in Bulgaria improved [size=200:s2693v4j]NO NO NO and I still say NO even though we won our property related fraud case

From April 2008 when the dirty deed was done to September this year and after two Dobrich Court Town hearings and then two District Court hearings finally a verdict in Sofia Supreme Court, the whole proceedure took nearly two and a half years, to the knowledgeable and educated posters on various forums I was informed that I was lucky because that was quicker than normal and although I was awarded court costs and legal fees I now have to engage a lawyer and pay him/her to recover what is due to me, approx 10,000euro. I am not counting my chickens

These perpetrators have been found guilty of committing a crime, in fact a number of crimes, Corrupt Notary, Villa sold illegally with false documents, our 94,000euro property sold for 10,000leva and when the perpetrators knew we were after them they sold it on again for 9,500leva and had so called legal documents as proof, I think that is called defrauding the country.

There was a 10 ton lorry outside the Villa being loaded with all of our fittings, fixtures, furniture and personal belongings, the local villages phoned the police to let them know but they did nothing about it, the whole situation stinks

The Courts, the Prosecutors and the Police all know the names and addresses of all involved and where all our belongings are. Up to now are they doing anything about it, the answer [size=200:s2693v4j]NO NO NO to any arrests

Going back to the originial question, Has the judicial system in Bulgaria improved It would give me the greatest of pleasure to say, Yes it has but I can't because as far as I am aware I would be dishonest

Varnagirl should be a good judge as she has resided in Bulgaria for ten years, and from her post she obviously isn't convinced of any improvement

Ashley, you have hit on a nerve here and opened up a can of worms. Good for you :: evil

tonyb60 wrote:

No:

Beg to differ Tony. I have taken the Balchik Police to Court twice and won twice and await the result of a third case in about two weeks time and fully expect to win that as well. I have taken the Tax Authority to Court once and won that. I am now about to take both the Tax Authority to Court again and also the Head of the Tax Office as an individual and expect to win those as well. There are a few others coming up and I don't believe I will lose any of them either.

Well done George

But the judicial system does not give anyone a gr8 deal of confidence

Thanks, Tony,

Quite frankly, I have not had a great much trouble with the Courts - slowness, yes, but corruption, no, and you would think that when I am prosecuting the Police, the Court may be amenable to what the Police says and not myself.

coriolanus wrote:

Thanks, Tony,

Quite frankly, I have not had a great much trouble with the Courts - slowness, yes, but corruption, no, and you would think that when I am prosecuting the Police, the Court may be amenable to what the Police says and not myself.

Again nice to hear but any court has to be impartial and should make decisions on fact. In a court all answers must be yes or no and no maybes. Glad and nice to hear that you are having success but maybe these things that have caused a court case should never have happened in the first place. Please do not say what they are as some things are private and should remain so.

tonyb60 wrote:

coriolanus wrote:

Thanks, Tony,

Quite frankly, I have not had a great much trouble with the Courts - slowness, yes, but corruption, no, and you would think that when I am prosecuting the Police, the Court may be amenable to what the Police says and not myself.

Again nice to hear but any court has to be impartial and should make decisions on fact. In a court all answers must be yes or no and no maybes. Glad and nice to hear that you are having success but maybe these things that have caused a court case should never have happened in the first place. Please do not say what they are as some things are private and should remain so.

Hi Tony,

Of course you are right - I am hardly going to say what the things were on an open forum, but let's just say the Police were very wrong, as they quite frequently are.

From Novinite

Corruption levels in Bulgaria are worsening – albeit only slightly, according to data revealed by Transparency International on December 8 2010.

About 30 per cent of Bulgarians think corruption levels have deteriorated in the last 12 months, 42 per cent say they have remained unaltered while 28 per cent think the issue is being tackled successfully and that levels of corruption are dropping.

For the European Union as a whole, the figures are 73 per cent, 23 per cent and only three per cent, respectively.

Using a scale of five, where one would represent no corruption, and five would stand for extreme levels of corruption, Bulgarians have described the political parties in the country as 4.1, Parliament as 3.0, police at 3.8, business corporations at 3.7, the Bulgarian media at 2.9, the judiciary at 4.3 and state administrations at 3.9.

The institution most perceived by Bulgarians as being corrupt, according to the report, is the judiciary.

Non-governmental institutions were tagged with 2.8, religious organisations at 2.7, the Bulgarian army at 2.5 and the educational system at 3.2, the Transparency International report said.

Over the past year, eight per cent of Bulgarians admitted to giving bribes, while the average for the EU stands at 6.5 per cent.

About 25 per cent of Bulgarians believe that the Government is ineffective in the war against corruption, 48 per cent think the opposite, while 26 per cent have no opinion.

For Bulgaria, according to the report, the sample consisted of 1000 Bulgarians, surveyed between July 1-8.

Globally, one in four people reported paying a bribe to one of nine institutions and services, from health to education to tax authorities in the past year. The police are cited as being the most frequent recipient of bribes, according to respondents. About 30 per cent of those who had contact with the police reported paying a bribe.

More than 20 countries reported significant increases in petty bribery since 2006, the biggest of which were in Chile, Colombia, Kenya, Macedonia, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Senegal and Thailand.

More than one in two people in Sub-Saharan Africa reported paying a bribe, more than anywhere else in the world

Most worrying is the fact that bribes to the police have almost doubled since 2006, and more people report paying bribes to the judiciary and for registry and permit services than five years ago.

Tony wrote:- any court has to be impartial and should make decisions on fact. In a court all answers must be yes or no and no maybes
In theory, Tony you are absolutely correct, in practice I am affraid not so good, as you say, in court all answers must be yes or no, but they are not, that is why maybes gets them off the hook and that is why courts cannot or will not make decisions
On a personal note, today I contacted my POA to ask what progress we had made with Dobrich Police regarding the Sofia perpetrators and our legal costs, compensation and their arrests as they have been found guilty of property fraud and stealing. My POA said they have now asked for proof of the crime and wish to see the Supreme Courts final document decision. This is utter bunkam, stupidity and totally unprofessional, I said to my POA, do the police in Bulgaria not work together, do they not have crime numbers and reports, do they not have telephones, his comment was you know we are working with Bulgarian Police here and they will not do anything if they can get out of it, and that was a Bulgarian saying that. I have the relevent document back here in England and the Police will not accept a photo-copy, so to get anything done, as usual you have to be there
[size=150:1z40xd1b]Has the judicial system in Bulgaria improved NO NO NO in stinks

willowsend wrote:

I said to my POA, do the police in Bulgaria not work together, do they not have crime numbers and reports, do they not have telephones,

Are you serious or just having a laugh knowing your knowledge of the system I'm surprised you had to ask? only joking but what a mess

From Novinite

European Judges to Check Independence of Bulgarian Courts

Independence of Bulgarian courts will be checked by a delegation of the European Association of Judges.
A delegation from the European Association of Judges will make a three-day check to establish whether there is an unauthorized interference in the independence of the court in Bulgaria.

The news about the delegation's visit was announced Wednesday by the Bulgarian Judges Association.

The delegation will include Austria's Gerhard Reissner, President of the European Association of Judges, the Dutch judge Marten Stenbeck and the Estonian judge Meelis Eerik.

In May 2010, the Bulgarian Judges Association sent a letter to the European Association of Judges, expressing its concerns regarding the comments of Bulgaria's Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, on the court's ruling.

During the visit, the delegation will meet with the Chair of the Supreme Court of Cassations, Lazar Gruev, the Chair of the Supreme Bar Council, Daniela Dokovska, the chair of the Supreme Judicial Council, Aneliya Mingova.

The European Association of Judges delegation will also meet with the Parliamentary legal committee, with Bulgaria's justice minister and the interior minister, with the Chair of the Constitutional Court and with representatives of NGOs.

From Novinite

Bulgarian Judiciary Lacks Money for Special Tribunals

According to the Bulgarian Supreme Judicial Council, there is notenough money in the 2011 budget for judiciary for the creation of the specialized tribunals.
The budget of the Bulgarian judiciary cannot provide enough funding for the new specialized courts and prosecution offices, the Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) announced Wednesday.

Bulgaria has promised the European Commission that the special anti-mafia tribunal has to start operating in May 2011. However, the Bulgarian Parliament has not yet adopted at second reading the amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code, which will define the exact cases that would be tried there.

The Chair of the VSS Budget Committee, Ivan Kolev, stated that the fact that the amendments have not been adopted yet is preventing the estimation of the amount needed for the creation of the special tribunals against mafia bosses and high-level corruption.

Rough estimations have shown that about 40 magistrates will work at the two tribunals and the two prosecutor's offices.

"
Altogether, the employees will be about 200 people. About BGN 8 M will be needed for their salaries,"
Kolev said.

He has explained that this will not be the total cost because the locations of the tribunals have to be defined, in order to estimate the cost of the equipment of the courtroom. Money for supplies and vehicles also need to be provided.

According to unofficial information, the tribunals will be located in the old building of the State Agency for National Security.

The 2011 budget for judiciary was the same as for last year – BGN 387 M.

"
When we divided the amount to 12 months, we established that the state funding will be enough for salaries only and if no new employees are hired. The money will cover also electricity, water, phone bills, and paper, but they will all finish by the end of September,"
Kolev said.

He has announced that VSS will propose to Bulgaria's Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, to cut the expenses for the state company "
Information Services"
for issuing certificates for current standing of companies that are re-registering.

The certificates are free of charge for citizens, but the judiciary pays BGN 15 each to "
Information Services"
.

VSS will propose that the certificate is paid by the companies that want to undergo re-registration. However, this would require changing the Bulgarian Commercial Register Act.