Bulgarian Minister Discusses Judicial Reform with Senior Officials of CoE, ECHR

Bulgaria's Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov and Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE), have discussed Bulgaria's judicial reform strategy and the independence of the judiciary in the country.

Ivanov is on a two-day working visit to Strasbourg on March 16-17.

Ivanov's agenda includes high-level meetings with representatives of the CoE, the European Court of Human Rights and the Venice Commission.

On Monday Ivanov met with Thorbjørn Jagland and Philippe Boillat, Director General of the CoE's Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs, according to the press office of Bulgaria's Justice Ministry.

Jagland expressed his approval of Bulgaria's judicial reform strategy, while Ivanov reminded that it had been identified as a challenge to the country in the first report of Jagland on democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in Bulgaria.

Monday's talks also touched upon reform of the penitentiary system in Bulgaria, the crisis in Ukraine, and the upcoming report of the Secretary General of the CoE on democracy and human rights in Europe.

There have been no meetings between representatives of the Bulgarian government and the Secretary General of the CoE over the past three years.

The Bulgarian delegation headed by Ivanov (including Deputy Justice Minister Petko Petkov, the Chief of the Cabinet of the Justice Minister Nadezhda Yordanova, and the heads of two directorates in charge of EU affairs) also met with Christos Giakoumopoulos, Director of Human Rights at the CoE.

Tuesday's agenda includes meetings with Dean Spielmann, President of the European Court of Human Rights and Gianni Buquicchio, President of the Venice Commission.