February 8 (BTA) - The Constitutional Court held unanimously that the Justice Minister can propose to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) the early dismissal from office of the Prosecutor General and the presidents of the Supreme Court of Cassation and of the Supreme Administrative Court, if they are found in serious violations, systematically fail to fulfill their official duties, or their actions damage the Judiciary's reputation. The Constitutional Court's decision was published on its website on Tuesday.

The Constitutional Court's interpretative decision, adopted unanimously with ten votes, comes in response to a case entered by the Council of Ministers on August 5, 2021. Judge Philip Dimitrov is the rapporteur in the case.

On July 22, 2021, the SJC's plenum left aside a proposal submitted by the then caretaker justice minister, Yanaki Stoilov, for starting a procedure for the early dismissal of Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev. The SJC's decision was made with 12 votes in favour and 8 votes against.

The caretaker justice minister made the proposal after then caretaker interior minister Boyko Rashkov (who currently serves as Interior Minister as well) had alerted Stoilov in a letter, containing detailed information about alleged violations committed by Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev.

Justice Minister Nadezhda Yordanova said in an interview on January 16 of this year that her Ministry is working on alerts that contain enough arguments that would warrant demanding Ivan Geshev's early dismissal from the post. According to her, there must be a clear and transparent procedure that could establish whether there are grounds for dismissing the prosecutor.