Gabriela Knaul (the UN Special Rapporteur for the independence of judges and lawyers, and pictured here), upon leaving after her six-day mission to Bulgaria, said that Joint governance of the courts and the prosecution service appears to hamper a well-functioning system of accountability, and therefore limits effective prosecution of those involved in organized crime and corruption.
Ms. Knaul went on to say that efforts undertaken by the Bulgarian government to strengthen democracy and the rule of law were hampered by misconceptions of the judiciary and that no differentiation was being made between judges and lawyers.
Ms. Knaul did not leave out the Bulgarian media in her statements, however, saying that the media as a whole needed to uphold its social responsibility to facilitate tolerance, dialogue and understanding among the three branches of Government – the executive, legislature and judiciary.
For the full article from newsreleaseagency.com, please click here.
The photo of Ms. Knaul comes courtesy of the UN’s multimedia site, found here.
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