1. Module 3: Civic Initiatives for Judicial Reform and Countering Corruption September 16, 2005

2. Judicial reform: indispensable prerequisite for a successful transition towards democracy The role of the judiciary for guaranteeing the rule of law, market economy and protection of human rights Judiciary as an instance of last resort for punishing corruption in the society Limiting and preventing internal corruption in the judiciary: key component of the fight against corruption in the whole society International dimensions of judicial reform: integration, security and judicial cooperation

3. Current challenges to judicial reform in Bulgaria Organization, structure and governance. Constitutional model restrictions Level of corruption pressure and corruption within the judiciary Lack of transparency, accountability, effective interaction and unified reliable judicial statistics Inconsistent reforms so far

4. Level of corruption in the three branches of the judiciary: the magistrates’ opinion

5. Spread of corruption in the judiciary: the public opinion

6. The civil society – key player in the political reform process and in reforming judiciary Initiating public-private partnership to fight corruption and reinforce judiciary: mechanisms for interaction Civic initiatives – Coalition 2000, Judicial Reform Initiative, joint public policy events Strategies proposed by the civic initiatives. Governmental programs Translating policy recommendations into practical measures: constitutional and legislative amendments

7. Reform priorities according to the Center for the Study of Democracy Introducing better balances between the branches of power Decentralization, transparency and accountability of the public prosecution system Restructuring of the judiciary. Transferring the investigation and the prosecution outside of the judicial branch? Public official outside the prosecution office empowered by the law to exercise prosecutorial functions as regards cases of judicial and high level political corruption Reforms in substantial and procedural laws (civil, criminal and administrative) Ensuring financial independence of the judiciary Introduction of new technologies in the judiciary: anti- corruption expectations

8. Proposals for structural reforms in the judiciary

9. Registration Reform Efforts Civil organizations and business associations activities for inspiring reforms in business registries Implementing the public private partnership model: research, awareness, drafting strategies, advocacy, drafting legislation The ongoing reform – main characteristics: Administrative procedures Centralized register Electronic and easily accessible database

10. Proposed structure of the Electronic Registries Center. Integrated and Connected Registers

11. International community support International and foreign donor programs (USAID, UNDP, WB, foreign governments’ funds) EU funds and programs: technical assistance, twinning projects, grants