Bulgaria’s Failed Specialized Criminal Justice Experiment

Abstract

On 14 April 2022 Bulgaria’s Parliament adopted legislative amendments to the Law on the Judiciary and related legislation to finally put an end to the Specialized Criminal Court, acting as a first and second instance, and its mirroring Specialized Prosecutor’s Office. Both institutions were set up during Boyko Borissov’s first term as Prime Minister in 2011 and severely undermined the rule of law in Bulgaria. Regrettably, the creation and development of these specialized structures was encouraged and marked as progress in the reports by the European Commission under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) on Bulgaria. This inconsistency calls into question the European Commission’s ability to objectively monitor the rule of law in its Member States, to recognize threats, and to give adequate recommendations.

Keywords: Courts, Specialized Criminal Courts, Rule of Law, Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, Bulgaria, EU law, EU accession, Judicial Independence, Due Process