Bulgaria: Members of the Prosecutor's Collegium suggest the Removal of Ivan Geshev

Six of the members of the prosecutor's collegium of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) propose the early release of the chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev due to a serious breach of official duties. This is stated in a message of the collegium uploaded on the website of the council.

The proposal comes a day after GERB's candidate for prime minister, Mariya Gabriel, announced that if she takes office, she will ask the justice minister in her cabinet to request Geshev's release. The same day DPS supported her intention.

The proposal is motivated in detail and signed by six members - Georgi Kuzmanov, Ivan Stoev, Kalina Chapkanova, Gergana Mutafova, Ognyan Damyanov and Svetlana Boshnakova. This is the third request in a row for the early removal of the chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev, after in 2021 and 2022 it was requested consecutively by two acting ministers of justice - Yanaki Stoilov and Nadezhda Yordanova. However, for the first time, this is being requested by members of the prosecutor's collegium of the SJC.

What is the procedure?

This composition of the council, which has already exceeded its five-year term by almost a year due to the lack of a government and political consensus, was elected in 2017, and the parliamentary quota, which consists of 11 members - filled with the votes of GERB, BSP, DPS and "United Patriots" and with candidates nominated by these parties. Those elected by parliament, along with members of the prosecutor's collegium, which has until now followed the will of its chief, formed a solid majority of 17 plus votes in support of the chief prosecutor.

A majority of 17 votes in favor of the 25-member judicial council is required for the prosecutor general to be dismissed. The procedure mirrors...