The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) co-rapporteurs for post-monitoring dialogue with Bulgaria have welcomed the JusticeMinistry’s intention to send the second package of changes to the Judicial Act to the Venice Commission for opinion.

This positive move will allow all the parliamentary forces to take the recommendations of the Venice Commission into account when discussing and adopting the changes to the Judicial Act that are a follow-up to the constitutional changes adopted earlier this year, the two co-rapporteurs said in a statement at the end of their fact-finding visit to Sofia.

“It is essential for Bulgaria to move the reform of the judiciary forward, which has wide-reaching and important consequences,” Zsolt Nemeth and Frank Schwabe said in the statement.

During their fact-finding mission, the PACE co-rapporteurs also discussed issues related to the fight against corruption and organised crime with Bulgarian officials and expressed the hope that the ongoing legislative reform would be completed soon.

The co-rapporteurs also discussed the electoral legislation and the presidential elections due in the autumn. They welcomed any proposals that would increase public trust in the conduct of the vote but also emphasised the importance of the stability of the electoral framework in the months precedingthe elections, according to the statement.