BILI in the Media

On July 14 BILI presented the 2013 Edition of the Prosecutorial Reform Index on a special conference, attended by representatives of the Prosecution, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, magistrates, academics, NGOs and media. The Director of BILI Ms Bilyana Wegertseder  believes that the Prosecution should be open to cooperation with the non-governmental sector, which is an  indication of its attempt to democratization and reform.

"Undoubtedly, some actions must be taken not to repeat the situation. However, these measures do not require new additions in the Penal Code. This is an attempt to respond to a field that there is no way to produce effective action. There are no financial reasons for banking panic." - commented Hristo Ivanov, Program Director of the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives on the current situation of the banking system for the "12+3" BNR broadcast.

The election of а Chief judicial inspector came to its logical fiasco. The result was set too obvious. Once the NGOs raised a number of questions regarding the procedure, and the European Commission transparently hinted that this backroom deal is obvious even in Brussels, the parliamentary forces quickly removed this poorly-tailored production from the scene, says Hristo Ivanov in his analysis for Dnevnik.bg

We will observe this procedure with high interest especially after in 2012 the SJC drafted new rules for election regarding this particular procedure. According to these rules, the Minister of Justice could also propose a nomination. If Dikov remains the only candidate,  that will again show that the SJC took its decision in advance, before the actual decision of the Council - said Bilyana.

Bilyana Wegertseder  is discussing the last amendments in the State Agency for National Security Act, the methodology of election procedures of state officials  and what exactly should be changed in these procedures? Whether the transparency demonstrated also means transparency of the election? 

Watch the video from the “Face to face” Btv Broadcast with Ms Guayrova-Wegertseder, Antoaneta Tsoneva and the Ombudsman of Bulgaria Konstantin Penchev discussing the civic protests Bulgaria,  the eventual new election rules and the last amendments in the national security legislation. 

 

 

An article, written by Hristo Ivanov, Program Director of the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives, about the last events at the Constitutional Court that shooked institutions and public: "...Mrs. Markovska found herself in a gap between the Supreme Administrative Court, the Supreme Judicial Council and the Constitutional Court. The destiny of the judicial seat she was rushing to, is now twisting in contradictory interpretations of how to return to the domain of the legal stability." 

 

 

In the eve of the first sessions of the new Supreme judicial council's members a round table was organized today in the American corner in Sofia on the subject of "Accountable and transparent judicial appointments and evaluation of the judiciary". It was initiated and conducted by BILI together with the Embassy of the USA and was scheduled as part of Mrs. Jane Howell's visit to Bulgaria. She is an executive director of the Colorado office of the Commission on judicial performance evaluation and an expert in the process of evaluation and appraisal of judges.

BILI was recognized as one of the four Golden key award nominees of the Access to Information programme in the category for Non-governmental organizations. The nomination was received for active work devoted to the enhancement of transparency in the judiciary. An outstanding contribution in this respect is the Initiative for maintaining of public profiles of magistrates striving for career advancement in the leadership positions in the judiciary.
 

Powerless, excluded and vulnerable. This is what it means to be of Roma ethnic origin and to have no identification documents in Bulgaria. This is what it means to be of Roma ethnic origin and to have no identification documents in Bulgaria. On the one hand, without proper identification documents, individuals cannot enjoy the rights derived from citizenship, including political participation, legal employment, social security, and health and social assistance. On the other hand, the severe social and economic marginalization and lack of access to basic services the Roma face in Bulgaria hamper their access to identification documents.

On 19.07.2012 the Administrative court of Sofia took a decision on BILI’s case against the denial of the Inspectorate at the Supreme Judicial council to give access to public information on an inspection it had conducted. The request for information was addressed towards a signal on which the elect-inspector Dimana Yosifova gave opinion and the document was asked in the light of her nomination as a candidate to the Inspectorate.

“Being Mr. Nobody” is a short documentary video, produced by BILI Foundation within the regional project “Partnership for Roma Protection and Prevention”.

As part of a monitoring project organized by the Bulgarian institute for Legal Initiatives,  Mrs. Sheril Loesch-a clerk of court for the Middle District of Florida, was invited on a regular session of the SJC Committee on Professional qualification, IT and statistics (the IT Committee) to discuss the electronic systems used for random case assignment and the implementation of adequate and objective caseload criteria. 

The Bulgarian Ombudsman recommended to the Minister of labour and social policy that part of the text of an instructing letter sent on 22.04.2010 written by the director of Social assistance agency must be repealed because it imposes barriers to the legally defined objective to enable the receipt of financial aid by citizens for the issuance of their personal IDs.