The Bulgarian parliament has approved constitutional changes demanded by the European Union to improve the efficiency and transparency of its much-criticised judiciary.
The measures, which were backed by 192 out of 226 present in the 240-seat parliament, establish a special inspectorate under the Supreme Judicial Council to monitor the judiciary without infringing on its independence.
The amendment also ruled out full immunity for judges, prosecutors and investigators, giving instead only a functional immunity which covers job-related activities.
The chief prosecutor and the heads of the Supreme Administrative Court and Supreme Court of Appeal must now report once a year to parliament.
Lyuben Kornezov, the chairman of the parliamentary committee which drafted the proposals said the changes were aimed at establishing better co-operation between the executive, the legislative and the judicial branches of power.
Bulgaria joined the EU on 1 January but the functioning of its judiciary and the country's failure to jail notorious criminals and combat corruption prompted the EU to apply strict monitoring mechanisms on the Balkan state.
On 31 March, the EU Commission is expected to assess the country's progress in meeting EU standards. If it fails the test, Bulgarian court decisions run the risk of not being recognised in the rest of the union.
Judiciary questioned
Bulgaria's primary law, adopted in 1991 after the fall of communism, gave the judiciary total independence, breeding corruption and impunity.
Spectacular trials including an embezzlement case that bankrupted 14 banks in 1996 and 1997 led nowhere with defence lawyers and corrupt judges always finding loopholes to delay a court ruling.
Police have also recorded over 160 suspected contract killings since 2000 but there has not been a single conviction, although the names of notorious gang bosses have circulated in the Bulgarian press.
As a result, parliament passed amendments last March designed to limit the independence of the judiciary, giving parliament the power to sack the chief prosecutor and members of the supreme courts.
But the EU Commission later criticised the changes, claiming they violated the independence of the judiciary, and pressed for 'ambiguities' to be removed.
Bulgaria's constitutional court repealed the disputed legal amendment last September, making it necessary for parliament to find another mechanism to monitor the judiciary.
This monitoring function will now be performed by the new inspectorate.
