Public Debate on Judicial Council Law Draft-Changes to Start in 2nd Half of Month

Justice Minister Igor Filkov has said the public debate on the draft-changes to the Judicial Council Law will start in the second half of October.

As he pointed out on Tuesday, there will be broad consultations. However, the Minister didn’t reveal whether it provided for disbandment, as announced by VMRO-DPMNE in the pre-election period, or the EU peer-review’s mission had been taken into consideration.

Also on Tuesday, the Council’s President, Vesna Dameva sent a message to the Finance Ministry, saying that for the judiciary to be independent, there needed to be compliance with the law, which needed to guarantee independence from a budget standpoint.

A working body in the frames of the Justice Ministry started, as early as the previous government’s term, preparations of the draft-changes on the basis of the peer-review mission’s 40 recommendations.

However, it will become known whether the text has undergone some changes once the debates announced by Filkov start.