BULGARIA'S FIRST STEPS TOWARDS A WELL-FUNCTIONING COURT SYSTEM

A letter to the editor of Financial Times in connection to a previous article in this newspaper by expert in law Mark West, USAID Judicial Strengthening Initiative,
East West Management Institute

Sir, While George Parker's article "Organised crime casts shadow over Bulgaria's EU accession" (April 26) highlights some of the serious challenges remaining for Bulgaria as it moves toward European Union accession, it is also part of a chorus of media coverage that misses an important part of the story: the real results of specific, concrete court reforms.

The effort to combat corruption is an enormous one in many countries, not only Bulgaria, and it is an effort that must be undertaken step by step in many areas of rule of law development. The first and most important step is a reconstructed, strengthened and, in turn, well-functioning court system. This step has been under way for several years now in Bulgaria and is showing real results. Unfortunately, these efforts rarely make the news, and public perception of corruption in the courts tracks this dearth of coverage.

A report released last month by the Center for the Study of Democracy shows that corruption in the judiciary is actually quite low, in fact one of the lowest sectors in all of Bulgarian society. Reported instances of corruption among judges have actually decreased each year since 2002, according to the CSD study.

Some high-profile instances of unethical practices do not tell the whole story. There are about 1,600 judges in Bulgaria and many thousands more clerks serving in more than 150 courts, and to work with these individuals is to know that court reform is succeeding. The United States Agency for International Development works tirelessly with 32 partner courts that have spent years implementing rigorous court reform plans with tangible results. These courts and the hundreds of heroes who work in them - from Sofia to Plovdiv to Varna - are living proof of the bedrock democratic values of openness, transparency, and accountability.

USAID has also supported creation of the National Institute of Justice, a permanent training centre for all new magistrates in Bulgaria. The six-month mandatory curriculum exposes junior judges to the best practices of the EU and the US, and, most important, to those Bulgarian judges and clerks at the leading edge of court reform. The NIJ is a legacy for the future of the Bulgarian judiciary, and for the EU itself - a legacy that supports the work of the courts right now.

To fight corruption a nation will have a long battle, and needs a well-functioning court system. To understand the fight against corruption, observers must look more closely at the real work of court reform and use the tools they discover along the way.

Mark West,
USAID Judicial Strengthening Initiative,
East West Management Institute,
1000 Sofia, Bulgaria