PACE rejects Bulgarian nominations for judges at European Court

Strasbourg, 1 October 2007 – On Monday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) rejected all three Bulgarian candidates for judge at the European Court of Human Rights.

The new Bulgarian judge will take place of judge Snezhana Botusharova whose mandate expires in October.

The three nominations were former deputy Minister of Justice Margarit Ganev, attorney-at-law Snezhinka Sapundjieva and professor from the Burgas Free University Momyana Guneva.

According to PACE, all three nominates do not fit ECHR criteria. The three nominations were rejected by the Assembly Legal Commission on the basis of CVs. Among the criteria are morals and professionalism.

The nomination of the three lawyers was accompanied by a scandal on account of lack of objectivity and transparency and the conflict of interests in the selection of candidates.

Source: Mediapool