On 9 June 2009 the Center for the Study of Democracy organized a seminar dedicated to best practices in countering corruption. A moderator of the event was Mr. Dimitar Markov, Project Coordinator, Law Program, Center for the Study of Democracy.
 Dr. Ognian Shentov, Chairman of the Center for the Study of Democracy, made the opening remarks by greeting the special guests - Judge Clifford Wallace, Senior Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals and Mr. Rolf Schlotterer, Advisor to the Commission for Prevention and Countering of Corruption, Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria. After that Mr. Thomas Peebles, Resident Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of Justice, US Embassy in Bulgaria emphasized on the importance of countering corruption in Bulgaria.
Judge Clifford Wallace presented some good practices for fighting corruption, underlining the most important principles in a judge’s job – openness, transparency, and fairness. He also said that only the rule of law could guarantee justice. As the most effective measure in preventing corruption in his country, he singled out the prosecution and punishment of corrupt lawyers and judges.
Mr. Rolf Schlotterer suggested examining corruption through the eyes of the corrupt person, because that is the way in which we  could see how really corruption works. His opinion is that fighting corruption in Bulgaria, more over now, as the country is part of the
EU, is a necessity because as he metaphorically put it when a part of a body is sick, the whole body suffers.
Dr. Maria Yordanova noted that in Bulgaria there are no good practices yet in fighting corruption through the judiciary. In this regard she mentioned the report Crime Without Punishment of the Center for the Study of Democracy.
Mr. Tihomir Bezlov, Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of Democracy, indicated that the main reason for corruption at low administrative levels is the lack of proper remuneration of the public administration, whereas at higher levels the reason is the lack of any control mechanisms.
 During the discussion that followed, Dr. Shentov stressed the importance of mass media in countering corruption. In his opinion most of the media in Bulgaria are not independent from private and political interests. Ms Ana Karaivanova, Inspector General, Supreme Judicial Council Inspectorate, agreed with Dr. Shentov about the role of the media and the non-governmental organisations. According to her corruption in the legal system is the most dangerous corruption in the Bulgarian society. Corruption in Bulgaria thrives not because of lack of political will but because of lack of will among the top-level magistrates i.e. lack of judicial will.
Agenda (Adobe PDF, 39 KB) |
