Professor Georgi Dimitrov, lawyer, expert and professor in law of the information and communication technology in a number of universities.Docent Daniel Smilov, a professor in political theory at the University of Sofia and program director of political and judicial researcg at the Centre for Liberal Strategies discussed the main problems before the good governance of the judicial system in Bulgaria, its lack of effectiveness and the possibilities to improve its management.
Ironically, the uneven distribution of the work load among judges has been existing for decades and I cannot understand why the decision maker Supreme Judicial Council does not take any measures against that” Smilov said, citing his research from 2005.
According to Prof. Dimitrov
In order to achieve more effective justice, it is necessary to create a novel methodology for measuring the load and distribution by setting indicators such as a number of claims, weight of cases etc.
He also noted that when present, people do use technologies and pointed as an example the reform in the registration of companies, where a hefty proceeding was significantly simplified with the introduction of electronic documents despite the judiciary’s strong resistance.
“In all cases the problem does not lie in the lack of financing”, Smilov stressed, “as the judiciary has been among the sectors with a substantial budget raise along the years. This is a purely managerial problem.”
The Minister of Justice Hristo Ivanov took part in the discussion
With a video interview in which he drew the main problems of the system and discussed his plans for the execution of the strategy for electronic justice. The minister stressed that his ambition is to execute the strategy in a shorter than the planned timespan as it is essential for the transparency and effective functioning of the syste,.
Prof. Dimitrov was convinced that a large number of the problems in the effective judiciary can be solved by the introduction of electronic justice and innovative methods for resolving litigations. Mr. Smilov noted that the justice system still works on a feudal basis where the leaders of various departments are too powerful and a broder insight is unachievable, whereas the Supreme Judicial Council is still with low governing potential.
The discussion ended on a positive note, as both participants underlined that the European Commission’s vision is to adopt a fully paperless judicial system in 2020 the latest. In all cases technology will have a great impact on the court proceedings, it is a matter of civil control and pressure to implement it as soon as possible. This is the key to effective, transparent and cost-effective justice in Bulgaria, summed up prof. Dimitrov.
