On 6 June 2008, a meeting of the Supreme Judicial Council with the participants in the Model Courts and Courts in Partnership Program which was implemented by the Judicial Strengthening Initiative (JSI) of the United States Agency for International Development from 2003 till September 2007 was held in the US Embassy in Sofia. After the close of the work of the JSI, the courts are continuing the efforts to implement and expand the Program with the support of the Program for the Development of the Judicial System.
The meeting in the US Embassy was organised with the kind assistance of the hosts from the US Embassy and representatives of the United States Agency for International Development and the Program for the Development of the Judicial System. Its goal was to familiarise the new members of the Supreme Judicial Council with the Model Courts and Courts in Partnership Program – its principles and achievements, good practices exchanged and possibilities to continue working in this direction. As whole, the Program involved a total of 32 courts throughout the country from different levels of the judiciary – Regional, District and Appellate Courts and one Administrative Court.
The Court Improvement Plan was presented in brief as it is the main document structuring the work of the courts involved in the Program in their efforts to improve their activities. The Plan consists of 26 core standards divided into 5 components – Judicial Management, Court Administration, Public Access and Outreach, Training and Information Technologies. Model Court Chairs presented to the participants in the meeting various initiatives they had undertaken in implementation of the Plan with a view to improving the work of the court. Vanuhi Arakelian, Chair of the Varna District Court, shared possible manners of analysing the movement of cases and overcoming their delay to the extent possible by the court. Boryana Dimitrova, Chair of the Burgas Regional Court, dwelt on the process of building an information center in the courthouse in Burgas both from the point of view of the changes it necessitates in the work of the court and from the point of view of the benefits it brings in working with the citizens. Miglena Tyankova, Chair of the Haskovo Regional Court, stressed on the work with the court administration and the numerous efforts to improve the qualification of the court clerks and judges.
The representatives of the Model Courts placed a strong emphasis on the opportunity to communicate with their colleagues in the course of implementing the Model Courts and Courts in Partnership Program and to exchange experience and good practices which improve the work of the court and thus contribute to the boosting of the public trust and confidence in the institution.
In 2007, the Supreme Judicial Council approved the Court Improvement Plan to be applied throughout the country. In this regard, in the meeting on 6 June 2008 the representatives of the Supreme Judicial Council expressed their willingness and readiness to continue the efforts to expand the Model Courts and Courts in Partnership Program at an institutional level and review the possibilities for it to be applied in the prosecutor’s office.
In conclusion, Pencho Penev, Director of the National Institute of Justice, expressed gratitude for the encompassing support provided to the Institute by the Judicial Strengthening Initiative and the United States Agency for International Development and gave an example of expanding the JSI activities through the local court training plans.
