3rd General Meeting of the National Chamber of Judicial Officers of Bulgaria.

The Interest Shown by the Minister of Justice for Private Judicial Officers

It is in the conference room of the Sheraton hotel in Sofia that the 3rd general meeting of the liberal judicial officers of Bulgaria opened. The majority of the 163 fellow-members making the current body of Bulgarian judicial officers had taken seat among the assistance which also comprised high ranking personalities, including Mrs. Sabrie Sapundjieya, vice Minister for justice, Jacques Isnard, president of the UIHJ, Nelly Masanska, chief inspector of the ministry for justice, representing the Minister for justice, Semeon Chanachev, Vice-President of the Supreme court of Bulgaria and Dimitav Tanev, president of the national Chamber of notaries. Among the guests, the remarkable presence of Eric Vincken, project manager of the Center for Legal International Co-operation (CILC) and Jos Uithehaag, first quaestor of the Committee of the UIHJ.
In her speech, in the name of the Minister for justice, Nelly Madanska was to stress the interest shown by the minister for private judicial officers. It should, indeed, be recalled that Bulgaria holds the characteristic to count two bodies of competitor judicial officers. One is liberal while the other is civil servant. Both exert the same functions with the same tariffs except that the tariff of liberal judicial officers includes VAT. Which is not the case of their State employed counterparts. One measures all the legitimacy of the dissatisfaction of our fellow-members as regards the iniquity of this situation which constitutes in their eyes a real violation of the principle of equality of citizens before the public service of justice. Nevertheless, according to Mrs. Madanska, the Minister for justice is pleased with the action of the judicial officers, necessary to the respect of the law.
On a national level, forced enforcement must still be improved and, obviously, the role of private judicial officers is decisive to achieve this goal, as it is since 2005 - date of introduction of the private judicial officer - that great progress was recorded in this field of enforcement of legal decisions. In a similar register, the ministry for justice is delighted by the influence of private judicial officers which inspired other States such as Ukraine or Albania. Lastly, in her ultimate remarks, the speaker was to invite the national chamber to accentuate financial control measures on the whole of the profession.
In her turn, Mrs. Sabrie Sapundjieva, vice-minister of justice affirmed all the comfort of being amongst the profession. She put forward the whole of the work completed since the implementation of the reforms of the profession, reforms for which the general satisfaction was undeniable, including, more particularly, the National Chamber, the medias, the UIHJ and the national Chamber of the judicial officers of the Netherlands. The improvement of the disciplinary process was to constitute the basis of the short speech of the vice-minister ensuring to be, herself, “part of your team” and in addition, very concerned in “ turning judicial officers into  a clean profession” with the measurement of the good opinion that she diffuses in the population.

The Bulgarian Reform, One of Best Carried Out

Among the speakers who followed one another, Mr. Chanachev, vice-president of the Supreme Court, and Mr. Taney, president of the National association of notaries, were to stress the quality of the relations which linked them with the profession. The efficiency of execution of decisions, the leading role of the judicial officers in the administration of justice, the difficulty of their missions, their adaptation to the new rules resulting from the reform of the Code of civil procedure “as many challenges they have to take... but the Supreme court develops a great activity to improve its apprehension”, was to conclude Mr. Chanachev.
Eric Vincken, senior-project manager of CILC, was to speak about the extension of the private statute profession, of the interest raised in Serbia, Croatia, Albania..., while insisting on the character of reference of the Bulgarian system, moreover very appreciated by foreign stakeholders, “which shows that the Bulgarian reform is one of best carried out”... The objective now, according to Eric Vincker, is to attract other States by making them benefit from “the Bulgarian experience...” Reconsidering the cooperation program undertaken since September by the authorities of the country, the Bulgarian judicial officers and CILC, Eric Vincken was to affirm that this program would be prolonged towards new objectives which would find their base in a reinforcement of the authority of the Bulgarian chamber in the organization of the profession. Evoking the scheme-work of the cooperation program, the speaker was to aim successively at training, a code of conduct, data processing, and new technologies for which work had already started. The ultimate subject of concern was to relate to communication and the interest to propagate a good image of the judicial officer.
Georgi Ditchev, President of the National chamber of the judicial officers of Bulgaria, was the last to talk.  In his management report, he presented the last three years in a complete report corresponding to the period of the mandate of the outgoing board. “In 2005, a group dreamed of an ambitious project: to set up a mode of enforcement established on the basis of an occupation of private judicial officer”. It is by this introduction that President Ditchev approached his short speech articulated around a retrospective having for origin the adoption of the law on judicial officers voted after an amendment deposited by the profession and aiming at reducing the capacities of the public authorities. In 2006, the judicial officers continued work in order to promote the improvement of the system. In spite of the difficulties of different nature which appeared, the final draft, thanks to the decisive support of the mediator, could be born in the - private and public - form of the judicial officer and of the civil servant agent, that is to say, a double system of which the perverse effects were previously denounced. Obviously, at the beginning, the idea of the government was to push back private judicial officers. However, the policy led by the latter privileging the development of quality relations with actors of the economic sectors and media, as well as with the ministry for Internal Affairs, was to contribute to support the emergence of liberal judicial officer on his competitor from the public sector. Moreover, in the field of the activity, the private judicial officer was to prove very quickly more effective and better organized (data-processing) that his civil servant competitor. At the same time the National Chamber launched a vast campaign of communication by proposing a film (“The image of the judicial officer depends on you”) and by constituting an international profile as a member of the UIHJ. In his speech, President Ditchev was to warmly thank the UIHJ for its support and the assistance it had brought to him throughout its action.

A Future Code of Conduct for the Bulgarian Judicial Officers

After the past, now the present. The topicality was first of all to start with many congratulations for the fellow-members for the very positive evolution of statistics as regards enforcement and by a good report on economic performances... “Thanks to you Bulgaria records a quality system of enforcement”. On the subject of work in progress, the president focused on the future code of conduct whose draft text was to be presented during the meeting. Optimization of the work of offices, collecting of unpaid States debts, increased solidarity between judicial officers, reinforcement of international relations, such were to be the ultimate points approached by Georgi Ditchev before enclosing by cordial remarks addressed to Aneliya Glavanova, the “impossible to circumvent” administrative director, true core of the national chamber: “Whether I continue to remain president is one thing, but may Aneliya still remain a long time among us”. Could there be a better homage?
The program of the conference was to extend throughout the day on broad topics of current concern for Bulgarian judicial officers. One finds initially the code of conduct whose contents was adopted in its quasi-integrality. Then questions relating to mutual assistance for judicial officers in the need (adopted unanimously). Finally elections with the re-election of president Ditchev for three years (the statute envisages a possibility of two three years mandates). Other provisions of variable importance were to still be voted:

The general meeting ended very late at night, at 1.am. It was marked by a very strong motivation of the Bulgarian judicial officers, eager to reach very quickly the highest level. The UIHJ addresses its warm congratulations to President Ditchev for his brilliant re-election.