DIARY OF GOOD JUDICIAL PRACTICES

Transcription

1 1 e-bulletin DIARY OF issue 5 / 2012 ISSUE 5 Summary GOOD JUDICIAL PRACTICES» NEWS Investigating Corruption in the Judicial System and Anticorruption Measures Seminar, 23 February 2012, Sofia p. 2 Project to unify court websites launched, February 2012, Sofia Conference of the Forum of Bulgarian Courts, 6 March 2012, Sofia Media Training for Court Chairpersons and Spokepersons,13-16 March 2012, Sliven Site visit at the Sliven Regional Court, 14 March 2012, Sliven Fifth Meeting of the CIP 2 Evaluation Committee, March 2012, Sofia The second Court Improvement Plan adopted as a national standard for all courts in Bulgaria, 5 April 2012, Sofia The Guidelines to Internal Control Handbook adopted as a national standard for all courts in Bulgaria, 19 April 2012, Sofia Introduction With the following pages we keep our promise to improve the exchange of good practices and extend the network of likeminded people. Through the waves of the judicial reform we are joined by nine new model courts under our flag. They have achieved more than 75% implementation of the second Court Improvement Plan (CIP 2) which was adopted by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) as a national standard for all Bulgarian courts in April this year. Innovation, constant efforts towards progress and a shared vision for reform serve not only as a basis for great achievements but for true leadership, too. On the pages that follow Mariana Lazarova from the Veliko Tarnovo Administrative Court shares with us her opinion on leadership qualities in the judiciary; the Varna Regional Court and the Ruse Administrative Court also present their innovative practices. Some people would say that leaders are not those who desire to control but those who are content with guiding us to the right path. Others believe that innovation is what distinguishes leaders from followers. We hope that the true leaders of the judiciary possess the integrity and the determination to pioneer the path towards further development of the judicial system. Participation of Children in Court Proceedings Training, May 2012, Pazardzhik Leadership and Strategic Planning Seminar, 31 May - 1 June 2012, Gabrovo Fifth International Court Administration Conference, June 2012, Hague, the Netherlands This newsletter and the project would have been impossible without the generous support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation to which we would like to express our sincere gratitude.

2 2 Pilot training on accounting skills for judges trying insolvency cases, June 2012, Sofia Chairpersons Meeting of the Model Courts and Courts in Partnership Network, June 2012, Tryavna» FORTHCOMING KEY DATES AND ACTIVITIES» INTERVIEWS p. 4 p. 10 What does a good leader mean in the court system context?, interview with Mariana Lazarova, judge at the Veliko Tarnovo Administrative Court We need a better coordination between the state stakeholders in cases involving children as victims of crime, interview with Mariana Shoteva, judge at the Pazardzhik Regional Court» GOOD JUDICIAL PRACTICES Information module of the Ruse Administrative Court website Internship Program of the Varna Regional Court Handbook for Journalists of the Gabrovo District Court» EU NEWS NEWS: 4 Practical aspects in countering corruption in the judicial system were in the focus of the discussion on 23 February 2012 which was organised by the PDJS Association and the US Embassy in Bulgaria. The event was hosted by the National Institute of Justice. The seminar was opened by Mrs Susan Sutton, Deputy Chief of Mission. Peter Ainsworth, federal prosecutor at the US Department of Justice, and Anka Jurma, Chief Prosecutor at the Supreme Cassation Prosecutors Office of Romania, outlined a general picture of the measures against corruption in their countries. The guest speakers paid attention to the legislative and institutional framework, as well as the relevant procedural rules in their systems. The presentations the two guest prosecutors made aimed to challenge the seminar attendees to draw a comparison between the anticorruption practices in the US, Romania and Bulgaria. A particular point of interest in their lectures was the detailed presentation of real corruption cases involving magistrates. Additional information on the event and copies of the materials presented can be found on the PDJS website at: 4 The PDJS Association is partnering with the SJC to establish a working group tasked to draw a Report on the current status of the courts web pages. Magistrates, court clerks and IT specialists were invited to participate in the working group. It is intended that this step would lay the grounds for a future project in partnership between the SJC and the PDJS. Additional information on the initiative can be found in the News Section of the PDJS website: p. 6 4 As a measure of implementation of CIP 2 Core Standard 5 The court analyses the effect of new policies and legislation and notifies the competent bodies the PDJS supported a judicial conference which presented proposals for judicial reform advancement and implementation of e-justice in Bulgaria. The conference took place on 6 March 2012 under the theme Judicial Reform: Mission Possible and enjoyed a great interest from the media, political figures and court representatives. The ideas,

3 3 which are summarized into an Action plan for reforms in the judicial system, are drafted by representatives of the Forum of the Courts in Bulgaria an informal organization of judges established three years ago. 41 Bulgarian courts, 10 of which are district courts and 31 - regional courts, declared support for the Plan. Contact information: Program for the Development of the Judicial System 1407 Sofia, 25 Nikola Vaptsarov Blvrd., Fl. 1, Bulgaria office@prss-bg.org website: The event was organised with the support of the US Embassy in Bulgaria, the America for Bulgaria Foundation and the PDJS. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Mr. Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Deputy Minister of the Interior Mr. Vesselin Vuchkov, Minister of Justice Ms. Diana Kovacheva, Deputy Minister of Justice Ms. Denitsa Valkova, Supreme Court of Cassation Chair Prof. Lazar Gruev, SJC members, H.E. James Warlick, US Ambassador to Bulgaria, as well as representatives of the embassies of several EU member states were in attendance. Additional information on the event and copies of the materials presented can be found on the PDJS website at: 4 The PDJS organised two media training seminars for court chairpersons / spokespersons on March in Sliven. The trainings were attended by 28 court representatives. The training facilitation was entrusted to Petko Georgiev and Svetla Petrova, media experts with long-standing experience in radio and television. The America for Bulgaria Foundation (ABF) assists the development and growth of a vibrant private sector in a free and democratic Bulgaria. It is established in 2008 as a successor of the Bulgarian- American Enterprise Fund (BAEF) created by the United States of America acting through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The grants presented by the America for Bulgaria Foundation aim at enhancing the legacy of goodwill and friendship between the American and Bulgarian people. The training explored the nature of the media, the challenges in the communication between the courts and the media, and was followed by practical exercises on writing press releases

4 4 and sitting for a TV interview on case studies presented by both trainers and trainees. FORTHCOMING KEY DATES AND ACTIVITIES Results from the Public Attitudes towards the Judiciary Sociological Survey, September 2012 Trainings under the Accounting Skills for Judges in Insolvency Matters Project, September and October 2012 Sixth Meeting of the CIP 2 Evaluation Committee, September 2012 Chairpersons Meeting of the Model Courts and Courts in Partnership Network, November 2012 Handbook of Examples and Good Practices, November 2012 The training issues were summarised in a Handbook, a copy of which was distributed to each participant at the end of the program. Additional information on the event and copies of the educational materials can be found on the PDJS website at: 4 On 14 March a PDJS representative visited the Sliven Regional Court, which is among the 33 Bulgarian courts implementing the CIP 2. The discussion focused on the CIP 2 implementation results of the Sliven Regional Court and its participation in the working group drafting the Handbook on the Integrated System for Management and Control (formerly known as Guidelines to Internal Control Handbook) which in April this year was adopted by the SJC as a recommended national standard. During a joint press conference the Chair of the court Angel Gagashev and the PDJS legal expert Nina Delimarinova presented the achievements of the court and the new administrative service allowing citizens with visual disabilities to familiarise themselves with court documents. More information from the meeting can be found on the Sliven Regional Court press centre blog at: preszentar.blog.bg/novini/2012/03/15/povishavanekachestvoto-na-pravorazdavane-v-raionen-sydsliv (bg only). 4 The fifth meeting of the CIP 2 Evaluation Committee took place on 30 and 31 March in Sofia. During the first day, the Committee members reviewed the court reports for the second half of 2011 assessing individual court performance. According to the assessments 9, out of the 33 participants in the project, fulfilled the mandatory requirements set by a Committee decision from March 2011 and will be awarded CIP 2 Model Court status. The average rate of CIP 2 implementation for the reporting period stands at approximately 57%. The second day of the meeting was dedicated to identification and assessment of good judicial practices. Noted achievements during

5 5 COURTS IMPLEMENTING THE SECOND COURT IMPROVEMENT PLAN Blagoevgrad District Court Varna District Court Veliko Tarnovo District Court Vratsa District Court Gabrovo District Court Dobrich District Court Smolyan District Court Shumen District Court Blagoevgrad Regional Court Burgas Regional Court Varna Regional Court Vratsa Regional Court Gorna Oryahovitsa Regional Court Nesebar Regional Court Petrich Regional Court Radomir Regional Court Sevlievo Regional Court Sliven Regional Court Smolyan Regional Court Haskovo Regional Court Chepelare Regional Court Shumen Regional Court Yambol Regional Court Varna Administrative Court Veliko Tarnovo Administrative Court Vidin Administrative Court Razgrad Administrative Court Ruse Administrative Court Sofia District Administrative Court Haskovo Administrative Court Shumen Administrative Court Yambol Administrative Court the discussion were Varna District Court s project on establishing a unified registry of expert witnesses and their efforts to use videoconferencing in international criminal proceedings, the program for interns of the Varna Regional Court and the policies for improvement of the professional qualifications of magistrates and court clerks of the Haskovo Regional Court. These and many more good practices will be presented in detail on the PDJS website and e-bulletin, as well as in the Handbook of examples and good practices which will be published at the end of the current project. Additional information on the meeting, along with a summary of the decisions (bg only), can be found on the PDJS website at: 4 The SJC adopted the second Court Improvement Plan (CIP 2) as a recommended standard for all Bulgarian courts during its meeting on 5 April The CIP 2 is the core document of the Enhancing Court Business Practices Project implemented by the PDJS with the financial support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation. It consists of 24 quality standards and related practical guidelines which courts can implement to improve their work. The standards are applicable in different areas of court management: policies and planning, court management, development of human and material resources, court procedures, access to justice, increasing public confidence in the courts work. Currently, 33 out of 49 participating courts in the Model Courts and Courts in Partnership Program are implementing the CIP 2. The Minutes of the meeting can be found at the SJC web page (Meetings section, Minutes subsection): (bg only).

6 6 EU NEWS Directive 2012/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 on the right to information in criminal proceedings h t t p : / / e u r - l e x. e u r o p a. e u / LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=O J:L:2012:142:0001:0010:EN:P DF Crystal Scales of Justice Prize, cooperation/cepej/events/edcj/ cristal/2012/communique_ Presse_cristal_2012_en.asp EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR THE EFFICENCY OF JUSTICE (CEPEJ) Study on Council of Europe Member States Appeal and Supreme Courts Lengths of Proceedings int/com.instranet. InstraServlet?command=com. instranet.cmdblobget&instraneti mage= &secmode=1&do cid= &usage=2 4 The SJC adopted the Handbook on the Integrated System for Management and Control as a recommended standard for all Bulgarian courts during its meeting on 19 April This subproject is the biggest initiative developed by courts under the Enhancing Court Business Practices Project. In all of its various stages it involves direct participation in the work process by representatives of seven Bulgarian courts on different levels of the system, PDJS representatives, as well as SJC committee members and the Internal Audit Directorate. The working group has developed more than 150 separate internal rules and procedures related to the management processes in the courts and the control actions regarding internal organisation and administration of the work, management of human and material resources and budgeting. They cover all sections of the CIP 2 and are measures of direct implementation concerning 15 out of its 24 quality standards. The Minutes of the meeting can be found at the SJC web page (Meetings section, Minutes subsection): (bg only). 4 Nineteen criminal judges from the district and regional courts in Plovdiv, Haskovo, Sandanski, Varna, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Blagoevgrad, Nesebar, Asenovgrad, Veliko Tarnovo, Kiustendil, Tran, Smolyan, Pazardzhik, Yambol, Burgas, Shumen, and Razlog took part in the Participation of Children in Court Proceedings training organised by the PDJS on May 2012 in Pazardzhik. The seminar was

7 7 organised with the financial support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation. The training was conducted by Dr. Nadia Stoikova, Executive Director of the Social Activities and Practice Institute (SAPI), and Mariana Shoteva, judge from the Pazardzhik Regional Court. The main objective of the training was to introduce judges to good practices regarding the participation of children in court proceeding in all forms of their involvement as victims or witnesses to crimes or perpetrators of crimes. The seminar program covered topics such as: forms of violence and their impact on children, child psychology, specialised approaches to juvenile offenders, interdepartmental cooperation and social services available to children, etc. Additional information on the event and copies of the educational materials can be found on the PDJS website at: On 31 May - 1 June 2012 in Gabrovo the PDJS organised the Leadership and Strategic Planning seminar with the financial support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation. 15 chairpersons, deputy chairpersons, administrative secretaries and court administrators from district and regional courts in Gabrovo, Veliko Tarnovo, Sevlievo and Gorna Oryahovitsa and also PDJS experts took part in the training. The seminar was delivered by Mariana Lazarova, judge at the Veliko Tarnovo Administrative Court. She presented different leadership models and functions. The participants also discussed the various approaches employed by leaders to carry out their duties. Special attention was paid to the leader s roles: the leader as a strategist and a guide; the leader as a coordinator and a supervisor; the leader as an organiser; the leader as a PR. Afterwards, the court chairpersons and administrators provided real life examples from their practice illustrating the division of leadership functions between them. The second day of the seminar was focused on strategic planning, its phases as seen from the courts point of view. The topic Vision, mission and strategic plan of the court inspired lively discussions. Divided in groups, the participants evaluated actual strategies presented by past candidates for leadership positions in the judiciary. Additional information on the event and copies of the educational materials can be found on the PDJS website at: Three PDJS representatives (Velislava Delcheva, Silvina Sobadzhieva and Nina Delimarinova) took part in IACA s (International Association for Court Administration) Fifth International Conference in Hague, on June. The conference was titled The Challenges of Developing and Maintaining Strong and Just Courts in an Era of Uncertainty. 340 representatives of 42 countries took

8 8 part in the conference, among whom: chief justices, ministers of justice, judges, practicing lawyers, academics, and representatives of the NGO Rule of Law sector. The Bulgarian delegation comprised also of SJC, Supreme Court of Cassation, Supreme Administrative Court and Prosecutor s Office representatives. new forms of international cooperation. The Bulgarian courts are following the path of international standards in the area of court management and quality of justice, but should focus more efforts in promoting their achievements, both at home and abroad. 4 The first from a series of trainings organised under the Accounting Skills for Judges in Insolvency Matters Project took place on 19 and 20 June 2012 in Sofia. A substantial number of topics of the various plenary and workshops sessions were of a comparative nature. Examples in this respect were the workshops that explored the models of public involvement in court hearings and trials though jurors and lay judges and implementation of IT innovations in the court work. Other interesting discussions were dedicated to the current tendencies in the judicial PR, improvement of administrative services provided by the courts in the context of budgetary restrictions and results from the working group drafting uniform European legal high education standards. Those and many other topics were presented during 14 discussion groups and plenary sessions in the span of two full days. The project, which started in April this year, is implemented by KPMG Bulgaria and the PDJS in partnership with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and with the financial support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Its main objective is to develop a training course and study materials for live seminar trainings and an e-learning training module teaching basic accounting skills to judges specialised in insolvency cases. Upon completion of the project, the above will become part of the NIJ curriculum. During the pilot training, 34 judges from 11 Bulgarian courts had the opportunity to learn about the current Bulgarian accounting framework and bookkeeping principles, financial and accounting analysis for insolvency, independent financial audit and the various methods for valuation of assets. The key message from the conference that the PDJS representatives brought back is that the judicial systems of the represented countries currently invest a lot of efforts in the opening of the courts to the public, introducing IT innovations and exploring

9 9 Three similar trainings will take place by the end of the year in the appellative cities of Veliko Tarnovo, Varna and Burgas. Additional information on the event and copies of the educational materials can be found on the PDJS website at: Nine courts were awarded a Model court status as a token of acknowledgment for their achievements in the implementation of the CIP 2. The ceremony took place in the town of Tryavna during the Fourth Chairpersons Meeting under the Enhancing Court Business Practices Project carried out by the PDJS Association with the support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation. The CIP2 is the core of the PDJS project and promotes 24 quality standards for courts, which were adopted by the SJC as a national standard for all courts in Bulgaria in April this year. The first nine courts which already achieved satisfactory level of implementation are Razgrad Administrative Court, Ruse Administrative Court, Yambol Administrative Court, Varna District Court, Vratsa District Court, Dobrich District Court, Smolyan District Court, Blagoevgrad Regional Court, and Chepelare Regional Court. The chairpersons of the nine courts were congratulated by Mr. Lenko Lenkov, Program Director, Civil Society in America for Bulgaria Foundation, and Ms. Velislava Delcheva, Chair of the PDJS Management Board. Welcome speeches during the conference opening were given by Prof. Lazar Gruev, Supreme Court of Cassation Chair, Ms. Radka Petrova, SJC member, and Ms. Sevdalina Gerova, Gabrovo District Court Chair. During the first day of the conference, Georgi Angelov, senior economic expert at Open Society Institute Sofia, spoke about program budgeting in the judicial system. Amendments to the Judicial System Act: status of judges, prosecutors and investigators; e-justice; reporting of the magistrates workload were the topics discussed by Denitsa Valkova, Deputy Minister of Justice, in her speech. During the second day, the guests had the opportunity to hear to presentations on e-justice topics and participate in four discussion groups: E-justice tools, New judicial mapping, and Manual for Journalists, Court Internship Program. This was the fourth meeting of the chairpersons of the model courts and courts in partnership within the three-year PDJS project ( ). Among the 86 attendees there were court chairpersons, representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the SJC, the NIJ, and foreign missions accredited in Bulgaria. Additional information on the event and copies of the materials presented can be found on the PDJS website at: w w w. p r s s - b g. o r g / e n / n o d e / (bg only).

10 10 INTERVIEW You speak of formal and informal leaders. May there be an overlap between the two types? My personal opinion is that in many cases the leaders and the administrative managers in the judicial system are the same individuals. I am talking about colleagues who have a specific personal charisma. Some of them do not enjoy being in the spotlight. And yes, there are informal leaders as well. Are you talking about leaders who stay in the shadow? What does good leader mean in court system context? Mariana Lazarova, judge at the Veliko Tarnovo Administrative Court What does a good leader in the judicial system mean? Is there a definition? There is no definition what a good leader is. To me, this means a set of various qualities and skills some of which one has as a character, others one gets with time and experience, some even by learning from mistakes. A good leader in the judicial system is he or she who manages to make the society see that the court is not what the media often show. The two-day training that you led which took place in Gabrovo on 31 May and 1 June addressed the leaders and the leadership in the judicial system. Are there leaders in the judicial system? Yes, I think there are. Some are the front people of the Judiciary their faces are popular and well known. There are, however, some leaders who do not tend to stay in the spotlight often, but they do quite a lot for the court to improve its performance. They manage to inspire their teams, to take good care of the people, to grasp the right vision and to make the public look at the court system from another angle. No, no. I was talking about people who are members of the formal leadership team and add value to the formal leadership strengths or balance their deficits. If we call them leaders in shadow, those would be for instance the people who manage to develop something new. The judicial system is rather conservative and the formal leaders naturally stay within the limits that the status quo in the system demands. The informal leaders, on the other hand, move things forward. Nevertheless, the true leaders in the system, formal or informal, are those who manage to implement successfully the new good ideas. Is there something within the powers of the courts they can do on their own to achieve notable improvement? What could be done without waiting for the money? Organisational improvement. Improvement of the attitude towards the people. What the colleague administrative leaders find most difficult is to be good PRs. And this is something that does not necessarily cost money, but is rather a matter of shift in the attitude towards the fourth power which the media have turned into. This is something that has the potential to work miracles and lead to a significant modification of the public attitudes towards the judicial system. The first step in this direction has been made by the courts participating in the Model Courts and Courts in Partnership network. This step was called PR Training for

11 11 Court Chairpersons or Judge Spokespersons the PDJS sponsored training seminar. The full text of the interview (available in bg only) can be found at: prss-bg.org/node/907. Mariana Mikova Lazarova Kabakchieva was born in 1968 in Teteven. She graduated in Law from Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. Her career began in 1993 as a junior judge at the Sofia City Court. In August 1993 she was appointed a judge in the Gorna Oryahovitsa Regional Court. Later, she became a Deputy Chair of the court and then its Chair. Since 2007 judge Lazarova has served as a judge at the Veliko Tarnovo Administrative Court and is its former Chair. She actively supported the USAID initiatives in her capacity as Chair of the Gorna Oryahovitsa Regional Court and continues to work with dedication on PDJS projects. She is also a lecturer at the NIJ and teaches court clerks on administration of administrative cases and magistrates on leadership and strategic planning. Child. Bulgaria is a party to the Convention, which has been ratified in accordance with the constitutional procedure and has supremacy over any conflicting provision of the domestic legislation. Bulgaria has also signed and ratified the Optional protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It contains the minimal child hearing requirements, states that the best interest of the child shall be a primary consideration, and requires that further trauma of the child be avoided by limiting the number of hearings. We need a better coordination between the state stakeholders in cases involving children as victims of crime Mariana Shoteva, judge at the Pazardzhik Regional Court (Summary) What are the compulsory and recommended international standards for child-friendly justice? Is the international legislative framework in force for Bulgaria? The main international tool in effect in the field of protection of the rights of children, including against the sexual exploitation of children, is the UN Convention on the Rights of the It is very important that in November 2011 Bulgaria ratified the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. The Convention came into effect in April this year (2012). It explicitly states that amendments are required in the procedural legislation of all acceeding states. It requires that the best interest of the child be a primary consideration and safeguarded in a manner that does not contravene the rights of the accused person in criminal proceedings as the defendant is a party to the proceedings and is protected by the European Convention of Human Rights. What specific amendments are required by Bulgaria to get its legislation in line with the international standards for childfriendly justice? Amendments are mostly needed to the Criminal Procedure Code and most importantly in relation

12 12 to the child s testimony hearing procedure where the child is a victim or a witness to serious crimes, especially of sexual nature rape or other forms of sexual abuse, trafficking in children, persuasion to prostitution. Such amendments will be applied in all cases involving persons under 18 years of age, regardless of whether they are underage (14 to 18) or minors (under 14). Uniform working standards for pretrial procedures must be drawn up as well. You said that Bulgaria has implemented a lot of the international standards on child-friendly justice. Having in mind your experience as a judge and as a participant in the Listen to the Child Project, where exactly do you identify problems in the implementation of the legislation? The main deficiency is in the weak coordination between the institutions. This is exactly the purpose of the standards that I mentioned earlier to improve and facilitate the coordination and cooperation between the state stakeholders. When a child has become a victim of crime, it is fundamental that all institutions concerned act in accordance. Everyone must attend to and get their job done, and the social worker, the investigation police officer and the person tasked to prepare the child for examination must coordinate their efforts. This coordination is very important indeed. Would you give an example to illustrate how this cooperation goes exactly in a case of an abused child for instance? I will tell you about a real case of child abuse involving two children whose names I will not mention. Their testimony was taken in the blue room (a special facility furnished to provide a child-friendly atmosphere in which the child is separated by a one-way vision mirror). The hearing took place in the presence of a judge and, as far as I was told by the colleagues present, the children gave testimony through a psychologist. The children had been prepared by an expert prior to the hearing. I cannot comment on the sentence because this is still a pending case. The full text of the interview (available in BG only) can be found at: prss-bg.org/node/856. Mariana Shoteva graduated in Law from Blagoevgrad Southwest University Neofit Rilski in From 2000 to 2005 she worked as a legal adviser. In 2005 she was appointed a judge at the Pazardzhik Regional Court. Since 2008 she has been involved in various initiatives and projects focused on the work with children. In 2009 and 2010 she was a lecturer at the NIJ, teaching International standards in questioning of children. The PDJS team is ready to participate in further activities which would promote collaboration and stronger relations between all national and foreign institutions and organisations involved in the judicial reform in Bulgaria. The PDJS may provide English translations of the materials published in the newsletter at readers request. Your comments, questions and information about this newsletter are welcome at office@prss-bg.org