Judicial Council

Judges returned the case file against Father Antonios Papanikolaou, the founder of the Ark of the World children's charity, which is under investigation for child abuse and financial crimes, to the investigator on Wednesday, requesting further interrogations to be conducted.

President Rumen Radev has taken a decisive stance against amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code, effectively vetoing provisions aimed at reinstating the Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council and bolstering the powers of the Prosecutor General.

The head of the national investigation, Borislav Sarafov, was elected acting chief prosecutor. This happened at an extraordinary meeting of the prosecutor's collegium. They supported the proposal for Sarafov with 8 votes "in favor", one "against".

A special commission of the National Assembly tasked with examining proposed amendments to the Constitution has initiated proceedings aimed at reforming judicial appointments, the first of several changes that may come its way in the coming months.

Prime Minister of Montenegro, Zdravko Krivokapi, could decide on the election of the President of the Administrative Court at the session of the Judicial Council on February 25, several lawyers told Vijesti yesterday, while the Judicial Council did not provide an answer whether this could be disputable.

Ljubljana – The Judicial Council has urged Supreme Court judge Branko Masleša to provide an explanation about his law graduation diploma and the bar exam. This is after Masleša has been making headlines in some pro-government media about the level of education, and passing the bar exam a year earlier after graduation than possible under the law.

Ljubljana – President Borut Pahor attended a session of the Judicial Council on Thursday, focussing on the passing of the 2022 budget bill, which cuts funding to some independent state institutions. Pahor said the way in which budget funding had been reduced could be seen as efforts to weaken these institutions.

Bled – A two-day Conference of Chief Justices of Central and Eastern Europe, which focussed on the independence of judiciary at the institutional level and the level of judges, concludes in Bled on Tuesday. Supreme Court president Damijan Florjančič said new situations challenging this were emerging all the time.

Ljubljana – The Supreme Court has proposed to the Justice Ministry to exempt the judiciary from the recovered-vaccinated-tested (PCT) rule so that the judicial branch can perform its function with clarity and autonomy. The court warned that the ministry’s interpretation of the relevant decree cannot pertain to those working at courts.

"When there is no effective solution to one issue, people tend to seek the prosecutor's office, but it also fuels over-expectations. It's function to control rule of law is only on certain issues and its task is to investigate crimes, not to be a second instance of administration control."  This was stated by caretaker Minister of Justice Yanaki Stoilov.