The Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria considers the information note published on 2 October 2025 on the official website of the Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) regarding one of the powers of the Prosecutor General as another action dictated by the ongoing attempts to destabilize the judiciary.
Concerning in this case is that if in recent years and especially in recent months these actions were carried out by certain political figures and associated street pressure groups and media, it should be noted with regret that now the leadership of the Supreme Court of Cassation is involving the institution in an attempt to achieve illegitimate goals in violation of their constitutional obligation to strengthen the legal order and the rule of law. The demonstration comes against the background of the worrying and unacceptable attacks in recent months against individual judges and entire judicial panels involved in decisions on cases of great public interest. The leadership of the Supreme Court of Cassation has remained deaf and blind to these unacceptable public attacks against the court. On the contrary, instead of engaging its attention and protecting its fellow judges, it completely ignores the situation created, and with its current actions openly contributes to the erosion of public authority towards the main pedestal of the state - its judicial system, in one voice with certain political forces.
Moreover, the biased reference to individual passages from an opinion of the Criminal College of the Supreme Court of Cassation adopted two weeks ago, as well as the reference to only two separate court orders related to requests filed by the Prosecutor General for the renewal of criminal cases, are an unacceptable attempt to manipulate public opinion. The available opposing opinions of judges from the courts of appeal, which allowed and are considering the requests submitted by the acting Prosecutor General even after the deadline specified in the information note, remain unmentioned and outside the scope of the information provided. 19 requests for renewing have been submitted to the courts of appeal, of which there is not even one that has not been admitted for consideration to date.
It should be noted that in the exercise of his legal powers, the Acting Prosecutor General has also sent opinions on draft laws to the National Assembly and the Council of Ministers after 21.07.2025, as well as opinions on constitutional cases in which he was constituted as an interested party by the Constitutional Court. None of these state bodies has expressed a position similar to that of the two judges of the Supreme Court of Cassation.
In addition, there is a clear double standard applied by the Deputy Chairperson of the Supreme Court of Cassation, who is currently carrying out actions that are directly related to the performance of the official duties of the Acting Prosecutor General, without in any way discussing the deadlines set by the Draft Amendments and Supplementation to the Judicial System Act of 21.01.2025. It is clear that the Deputy Chairperson accepts the signals filed against the Acting Prosecutor General as filed specifically against the acting Prosecutor General and administers them without hesitation, directing them to the Ad Hoc Prosecutor - reference, online page of the Supreme Court of Cassation.
It should be explicitly noted that the opinion of the Criminal College of the Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC), part of which is reflected in the information note published on the official website of the SCC does not give rise to legal consequences with respect to a valid administrative act - the decision of the Prosecutor's College of the Supreme Judicial Council. Only the Supreme Administrative Court is procedurally authorized to discuss and request the annulment of this administrative act.
All this once again reinforces the thesis that with its actions, the leadership of the Supreme Court of Cassation in violation of the constitutionally defined competence of the court pursues solely political goals and deepens the created situation of instability in the judiciary, which in turn is dictated by certain political circles and their individual representatives in the judicial system itself.
Unfortunately, the only sufferers of these actions will be the parties in these two criminal cases, in which a renewal was requested but not granted. This harms the rights of citizens to a prompt and fair investigation of criminal cases in which they or their relatives are victims.
It should be noted that such actions are among other things contrary to established institutional ethics. The mere fact that the information note containing tendentious suggestions is being circulated while the Acting Prosecutor General is participating in the Consultative Forum of General Prosecutors, which is being held for the 19th time in the city of The Hague, the Netherlands, and just before Bulgaria's re-hosting of the Balkan Forum of Prosecutors General of South-Eastern Europe, clearly indicates that in this case a pathetic attempt is being made to discredit the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office internationally. In fact, this strangely coincides with the vote of a Bulgarian politician against our national interest in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe regarding the abolition of the post-monitoring mechanism for Bulgaria.
Despite the opposition of the leadership of the Supreme Court of Cassation, we assure the Bulgarian citizens that the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Bulgaria will continue to defend the public interest and will be a respected and worthy partner internationally.
We emphasize explicitly our respect and esteem for the Bulgarian court and all decent Bulgarian judges, who, like the prosecution, are also subject to intense and unhealthy political interest.