Chapter six the judiciary

Art. 117.  (1) The judiciary shall protect the rights and legitimate interests of all citizens, legal entities and the State. (2) The judiciary shall be independent. In the performance of their functions, all judges, court assessors, prosecutors and investigating magistrates shall be subservient only to the law. (3) The judiciary shall have an independent budget. Art. 118.  All judicial power shall be exercised in the name of the people. Art. 119.  (1) Justice shall be administered by the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Supreme Administrative Court, courts of appeal, regional courts, courts-martial and district courts. (2) Specialized courts may be set up by virtue of law. (3) There shall be no extraordinary courts. Art. 120.  (1) The courts shall supervise the legality of the acts and actions of the administrative bodies. (2) Citizens and legal entities shall be free to challange any administrative act which affects them, except those listed expressly by the laws. Art. 121.  (1) The courts shall ensure equality and equal opportunities for all the parties in the judicial trail to present their case.  (2) Judicial proceedings shall ensure the establishment of truth. (3) All courts shall conduct their hearings in public, unless provided otherwise by law. (4) All court rulings shall be motivated. Art. 122.  (1) Citizens and legal entities shall have the right to legal counsel at all stages of a trial. (2) The procedure by which the right to legal counsel shall be practiced shall be established by law. Art. 123.  Court assessors shall participate in the trial process in certain cases established by law. Art. 124.  The Supreme Court of Cassation shall exercise supreme judicial oversight as to the precise and equal application of the law by all courts. Art. 125.  (1) The Supreme Administrative Court shall exercise supreme judicial oversight as to the precise and equal application of the law in administrative justice. (2) The Supreme Administrative Court shall rule on all challenges to the legality of acts of the Council of Ministers and the ministers, and any other acts envisaged by the law. Art. 126.  (1) The structure of the prosecution office shall correspond to that of the courts. (2) The Prosecutor General shall oversee the legality and provide methodological guidance to all other prosecutors. Art. 127.  The prosecution office shall ensure that legality is observed: 1. (new, SG 27/06) by leading the investigation and supervising the legality thereof; 2. (new, SG 27/06) may conduct investigation; 3. (prev. item 1 SG 27/06) by bringing charges against criminal suspects and supporting the charges in indictable cases; 4. (prev. item 2 SG 27/06) by overseeing the enforcement of penalties and other measures of compulsion; 5. (prev. item 3 SG 27/06) by acting for the rescission of all inlawful acts; 6. (prev. item 4 SG 27/06) by taking part in civil and administrative suits whenever required to do so by law. Art. 128.  (amend., SG 27/06) The investigating magistracy shall be within the system of the judiciary. They shall conduct investigation of criminal cases where it is prescribed by the law. Art. 129.  (1) Judges, prosecutors and investigating magistrates shall be appointed, promoted, demoted, transferred and removed from office by the Supreme Judicial Council. (2) The Chairman of the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Prosecutor General shall be appointed and removed by the President of the Republic upon a proposal from the Supreme Judicial Council for a period of seven years, and shall not be eligible for a second term in office. The President shall not deny an appointment or removal upon a repeated proposal. (3) (amend., SG 85/03) Having completed a five year term of office as a judge, prosecutor or investigating magistrate, and upon attestation, followed by a decision of the Supreme Judicial Council, the judges, prosecutors and investigating magistrates shall become irremovable. They, including the persons referred to in para 2, shall be removed from office only upon: 1. completion of 65 years of age; 2. resignation; 3. entry into force of a final sentence imposing imprisonment for an intentional criminal offence; 4. permanent de facto inability to perform their duties for more than a year; 5. serious infringement or systematic neglect of their official duties, as well as actions undermining the prestige of the Judiciary. (4) (new, SG 85/03, declared unconstitutional by Constitutional Court Judgment No. 7/2006 - SG 78/ 2006)

In the cases under para 3, item 5, the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Prosecutor General shall be removed from office by the President of the Republic, also upon proposal of one-fourth of the Members of the National Assembly, adopted by a two-thirds majority of the Members of the National Assembly. The President shall not deny the removal upon a repeated proposal.

(5) (new, SG 85/03, prev. para 4 SG 27/06) In cases of removal from office under para 3, items 2 and 4, the acquired irremovably shall be restored upon subsequent appointment to the office of a judge, prosecutor or investigating magistrate. (6) (new, SG 85/03, in force from January 1, 2004, prev. para 5 SG 27/06)) The heads of the judicial bodies, except for those referred to in para 2, shall be appointed for a period of 5 years and are eligible for a second mandate. Art. 130.  (1) The Supreme Judicial Council shall consist of 25 members. Sitting on it ex officio shall be the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Chairman of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Prosecutor General. (2) Eligible for election to the Supreme Judicial Council besides its ex officio members shall be practising lawyers of high professional and moral integrity with at least 15 years of professional experience. (3) Eleven of the members of the Supreme Judicial Council shall be elected by the National Assembly, and eleven shall be elected by the bodies of the judiciary. (4) The elected members of the Supreme Judicial Council shall serve terms of five years. They shall not be eligible for immediate re-election. (5) The meetings of the Supreme Judicial Council shall be chaired by the Minister of Justice, who shall not be entitled to a vote. (6) (new-SG 12/07)The Supreme Judicial Council shall: 1. appoint, promote, transfer and remove from office judges, prosecutors and investigating magistrates; 2. impose the disciplinary sanctions "demotion" and "removal from office" to judges, prosecutors and investigating magistrates; 3. organise the qualification of judges, prosecutors and investigating magistrates; 4. adopt the draft budget of the judiciary; 5. determine the scope and the structure of the annual reports referred to in Article 84, point 16. (7) (New-SG 12/07)The Supreme Judicial Council shall hold a hearing and pass the annual reports of the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Supreme Administrative Court and the Prosecutor General on the application of the law and on the activity of the courts, the prosecution office and the investigating bodies and shall submit them to the National Assembly. (8) (New-SG 12/07)The mandate of an elected member of the Supreme Judicial Council shall expire upon any of the following occurrences: 1. resignation; 2. final judicial act for a committed crime; 3. permanent de facto inability to perform his/her duties for more than one year; 4. disciplinary removal from office or deprival from the right to pursue legal profession or activity. (9) (New-SG 12/07)In case of termination of the mandate of an elected member of the Supreme Judicial Council, a new member from the same quota shall be elected, who shall hold the office until the expiry of the mandate. Art. 130a. (new, SG 27/06) The Minister of Justice: 1. shall propose a draft budget of the judiciary and submit it to the Supreme Judicial Council for consideration; 2. shall manage the property of the judiciary; 3. may make proposals for appointment, promotion, demotion, transfer and removal form office of judges, prosecutors and investigators; 4. shall participate in the organization of the training of judges, prosecutors and investigators; 5. (revoked-SG 12/07). Art. 131.  (Amend.-SG 85/03, amend.-SG 12/07) Any resolution of the Supreme Judicial Council to appoint, promote, demote, transfer or remove a judge, prosecutor or investigating magistrate, as well as the proposals under Art. 129, para 2, shall be passed by a secret ballot. Art. 132.  (amend., SG 85/03) (1) When exercising the judicial function, the judges, prosecutors and investigating magistrates shall bear no civil or criminal liability for their official actions or for the acts rendered by them, except where the act performed constitutes an indictable intentional offence. (2) (Revoked - SG 12/07). (3) (Revoked - SG 12/07). (4) (Revoked - SG 12/07). Art. 132a. (New-SG 12/07) (1) An Inspectorate shall be established to the Supreme Judicial Council, which shall be composed of a chief inspector and ten inspectors. (2) The chief inspector shall be elected by the National Assembly by a majority of two-thirds of the Members for a term of five years. (3) The inspectors shall be elected by the National Assembly for a term of four years pursuant to the procedure laid down in paragraph 2. (4) The chief inspector and the inspectors may be re-elected, however not for two consecutive mandates. (5) The budget of the Inspectorate shall be adopted by the National Assembly within the frames of the budget of the judiciary. (6) The Inspectorate shall inspect the activity of the judiciary bodies without affecting the independence of judges, court assessors, prosecutors and investigating magistrates while performing their duties. The chief inspector and the inspectors shall be independent and shall obey only the law while performing their duties. (7) The Inspectorate shall act ex officio, on an initiative by the citizens, legal entities or state bodies, including judges, prosecutors and investigating magistrates. (8) The Inspectorate shall submit an annual report on its activity to the Supreme Judicial Council. (9) The Inspectorate shall send signals, proposals and reports to other state bodies, including the competent judiciary bodies. The Inspectorate shall provide public information about its activity. (10) The conditions and procedure applicable to election and removal from office of the chief inspector and the inspectors, as well as the organisation and the activity of the Inspectorate shall be established by law. Art. 133.  The organization and the activity of the Supreme Judicial Council, of the courts, the prosecution office and the investigating magistracy, the status of the judges, prosecutors and investigating magistrates, the conditions and the procedure for the appointment and removal from office of judges, court assessors, prosecutors and investigating magistrates and the materialization of their liability shall be established by law. Art. 134.  (1) The bar shall be free, independent and autonomous. It shall assist citizens and legal entities in the defence of their rights and legitimate interests. (2) The organization and manner of activity of the bar shall be established by law.