Deputy Minister of Justice Maria Pavlova participated in a meeting of the General Affairs Council, where the annual dialogue on the rule of law in the EU was held.

Such a debate is held annually.

It discusses the annual reports on the rule of law and the chapters therein of the member states, divided into groups of five, in alphabetical order.

This year saw the discussion of the EC's third report for all Member States, published on 13 July 2022. In it, for the first time, the European Commission made recommendations for action to each of the Member States.

The document's chapters on Slovakia, Finland, Belgium, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic were discussed.

In her presentation, Maria Pavlova informed about the actions taken by the institutions in Bulgaria to implement the Commission's recommendations.

The National Coordination Mechanism for the Rule of Law and the Council to it were indicated as a good practice.

It is jointly chaired by the Minister of Justice and the representative of the Supreme Judicial Council and aims to develop, implement and coordinate the national rule of law policy.

The opportunity to participate in this process of civil society and the professional organizations of magistrates, lawyers and journalists is guaranteed within the framework of a special Citizens' Council.

Deputy Minister Pavlova visited the prison in Burgas

In response to questions about the regulation of an effective mechanism for seeking criminal liability of the chief prosecutor and, above all, about when the mechanism will become a fact, Deputy Minister Pavlova informed her colleagues that for this purpose a Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Criminal- the procedural code and the Judiciary Act.

The draft law was adopted at the first vote by the Committee on Legal Affairs in the National Assembly on 27.01.2023 and was re-approved by the Council of Ministers on 08.03.2023. The project also received a positive assessment from the Venice Commission and the Council of Europe.

She assured the member states of the government's determination for the irreversibility of the reforms and for full membership of our country in all instruments of the European Union.

We recall:

In 2020, with its annual reports on the situation of the rule of law in the European Union, the European Commission launched an annual review cycle in the area of ​​compliance with the principles of the rule of law.

In its reports, the commission also outlines the main challenges still facing the member states.

Monitoring is carried out within four pillars: I. Justice system;

II.

Anti-corruption framework;

III.

Media pluralism;

and IV.

Other institutional issues related to the principles of interdependence and mutual limitation.

In the process of drawing up the Rule of Law Report, Member States annually provide input and up-to-date information on the four pillars of the mechanism.

Meetings are held between a team from the European Commission and representatives of state institutions and civil society.