Elaboration of a Standard for Publicity and Transparency in the Activities of the Courts and Advocacy for its Introduction – a Guarantee for Public Trust and Civic Oversight over the System of Justice

Faced with enormous public expectations, the judicial system is key element of citizen trust in democratic governance. According to data from the Global Corruption Barometer in 2016, the judiciary remains the sector most affected by corruption in Bulgaria. The regular reports of the European Commission on the CVM consistently refer to the problems of publicity and integrity in the governance of the judicial system in Bulgaria. The current project proposal is based on over 15 years of experience of Transparency International-Bulgaria in implementing initiatives for increasing the capacity of the bodies of the judicial system in establishing successful models and practices for publicity, transparency and accountability. The aim of the project is to address the need for a uniform standard of the publicly available information to citizens in real time, which allows for effective civic oversight and increasing public trust. The project proposal is based on 5 of the principles and horizontal approaches in the Updated Strategy to Continue the Reform of the Judicial System – compliance with international standards, taking account of the Bulgarian experience, guaranteeing court independence, introducing the instruments of good governance and a citizenry-conscious judiciary. The target groups include judges and court managers, citizen and business organizations, public at general. The expected results include: increased transparency and accountability in the work of courts, increased civic trust in the courts, introducing effective mechanisms for civil society oversight on the work of the courts. The complex of project activities includes: a study of the leading standards of the Council of Europe; elaborating a Standard for Publicity; elaboration of a mechanism for civic oversight over the implementation of the Standard for Publicity and training of civil society stakeholders to utilize the mechanism.

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