The Venice Commission welcomes the proposed amendment of the Constitution that will divide the SJC in two colleges. That is what members of the Council of Europe Venice Commission’s delegation have stated at a meeting in the National Assembly.

The National Assembly Chair Tsetska Tsacheva stressed during the meeting that the bill on amendment of the Basic law is in line with the Constitution, the decisions of the Constitutional Court of 2005 and 2008 and the recommendations of the Venice Commission. Tsetska Tsacheva has added that the proposed constitutional amendments in respect to the judiciary could be passed by a regular assembly.
 
She pointed out that there is no way of changing the number of SJC members elected by the National Assembly without the approval of a Grand National Assembly. According to her the biggest change envisaged in the proposed amendments was the direct election of SJC members by the General Assembly of Judges and the General Assembly of  Prosecutors and Investigators.

Mr Guido Modona of the Venice Commission noted the commission welcomes the division of SJC in two – one college consisting of judges and the other of prosecutors and investigators. He stressed the problem now is in the majority by which the SJC members would be elected. The Venice Commission is recommending the qualified majority in view to avoid the risk of politicizing the SJC.
 
Tsetska Tsacheva in turn said the qualified majority for election of SJC members would require a broader consensus and would guarantee the standards for election of candidates of high moral standing. Nevertheless the qualified majority also bears the risk for the National Assembly to not be able to elect SJC members and thus halt the work of the institution itself and of the judicial branch of power as a whole.
 
The delegation of the Venice Commission is on a three-day visit to Bulgaria and its mission is to prepare a report on the proposed amendments of the Constitution. The delegation has held talks with the Justice Minister of Bulgaria, Mr Hristo Ivanov, with the head of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Prof. Lozan Panov and with the head of the Constitutional Court, Dimitar Tokushev. They also met with representatives of the SJC, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Associations of Prosecutors and Judges and with Bulgarian NGOs.