Finally: Bulgaria’s President issued a Decree for the Release of Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev

With its decree on the basis of Art. 129, paragraph 3, item 5 of the Constitution, President Rumen Radev dismissed Ivan Geshev from the position of Chief Prosecutor of the Republic of Bulgaria.

This was announced by the press office of the head of state.

On June 12, the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) voted to remove Ivan Geshev from the post of chief prosecutor with 16 votes "for" and 4 votes "against". This became possible after the National Assembly changed the required number of votes to dismiss the Prosecutor General from 17 to 13.

The release of Ivan Geshev came about after, in her program speech even before the formation of a government between GERB-SDS and WCC-DB, Mariya Gabriel, as a candidate for Prime Minister at the time, stated that the first point in the work of the Ministry of Justice will be the removal of the chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev.

Geshev took office as chief prosecutor at the beginning of 2020. His term of office is seven years.

In order to complete the process until his removal from office, it was necessary for the SJC to send a decision to the head of state and for him to sign a decree of dismissal from the post of chief prosecutor.

For Geshev, the termination of the mandate, which is an act without precedent in the recent history of Bulgaria, comes into force from the moment of signing, for the SJC - from the publication of the decree in the State Gazette. A seven-day period for opening a procedure for electing a new chief prosecutor will now begin.

Nominations can be made by members of the Prosecutor's College, as well as the Minister of Justice. According to the latest changes in the NPC, 13 votes are needed for the election, not 17.

Ivan Geshev was elected by the same composition...