Remarks by Ambassador John Beyrle to the Judges of the Sofia Regional Court

Sofia, 20 March 2006
Palace of Justice

  See Short Video Clip - Courtesy of BNT/"Po sveta i u nas"

Honorable Judge Grigorov, Honorable Judge Kolev, Judges of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Judges of the Sofia Regional Court, ladies and gentlemen. 

It is a pleasure and honor for me to join you here today in the Palace of Justice. 

As you know, in the last 15 years the United States has offered considerable help to support your efforts for  reform in the Bulgarian judicial system.   This is important to the United States for three reasons.   

- First,  the effectiveness of the Bulgarian judicial system is an important factor for American businesses in Bulgaria, and for those who are thinking of investing here.  They want to know that they will be treated fairly.  

- Second, an effective judicial system is a key requirement for Bulgaria’s entry into the European Union in 2007,  and the United States strongly supports Bulgaria’s candidacy;  

- Third, and perhaps most important,  the United States and Bulgaria need to join their sfforts in the global fight against organized crime, drug trafficking, and other trans-national crime. This requires that Bulgaria has the best possible judicial system, in order to be a reliable and an effective partner.   For this reason, we have brought many of our best experts to consult and share their experience with the Bulgarian judiciary.

However American experts can only give suggestions.  In the end, of course,  the judiciary system will be no better than the judges who preside in the courts.  You are the most important part of any effort to reform the judiciary.   Change begins first and foremost in  your thinking.

Since I spoke last December at the National Judges Conference, I have talked with many judges on my trips around Bulgaria.   I have been enormously impressed by the idealism, the integrity, and the desire for change among the young judges.    I have found among judges across the country a common wish for greater accountability, transparency, and openness.   These, I am told by everybody I talked with, are the most powerful tools for a better judicial system.

I have been very impressed by the changes that have already taken place.  For example, the Natonal Institute of Justice is offering better training to judges, and continuing training throughout their careers.   This is being supplemented by better training for young prosecutors, investigators and court clerks.

I also found that your generation of judges is committed to the fight against corruption, in all of its forms.  You understand that corruption doesn’t just affect the outcome of individual cases;  it undermines the public confidence in the entire system.

As have said before, we in the United States are no strangers to crime and corruption.
  
- This month an American Congressman from California got a severe sentence for a bribe, given to him to extend his influence.

- In February of this year, an American state judge in Lousiana was sentenced to fifty one months in prison, and must pay a fine of fifty thousand dollars,  for accepting a bribe of five thousand dollars.  

I’m not proud of these instances, they are disgusting,  but I am proud of how they have demonstrated to the American people that in the long run there is accountability in our system. If an American politician or a magistrate has been proven guilty, the reaction of our system is very quick and very stern, because the public belief in the American judicial system is based on the presumption that magistrates are just and impartial and work in the interests of society.

No doubt there are probably some authority figures here too who must be tried, convicted, and sent to jail.  Not to settle political scores, not simply to hang a few scalps on the wall to show the EU or the Americans, but to show the people of this country that the old order is changing, that there is accountability and zero tolerance for crime and corruption.   

In my address to the National Judges Conference, I concluded by noting that each nation has a judicial system that reflects its own history, culture and values.  The American legal system could not be transplanted to Bulgaria, nor would the Bulgarian system work in the United States.

But there is one essential element that is common to both the American and Bulgarian systems – a dedication to the public good over private interest, and a dedication to the principle of fairness.  The role of your judges is to be guardians of these most basic and precious principles.

I have enormous admiration and respect for the work that you do.   Each day, with few resources, you have to sort out right from wrong and make the difficult decisions.   Whether Bulgaria is governed by the rule of law or by private interests, and whether the Bulgarian people have confidence in their judicial system, depends to a great extent upon your work.

We Americans are optimists, and we believe that any problem can be solved, with enough effort and a will to succeed.  Based upon all of you that I have met,   and on the difficulties you have already overcome, I have great confidence that Bulgaria can and will be a model of democracy, justice and the rule of law in this region.  Thank you.