This is a courtroom for civil cases. All regional courtrooms are this size - about 10 ft. by 20 ft. Everyone stands except the judge, his/her secretary, and up to two extra judges that may get involved. You can see the judge chairs with the fancy backs framed in the light.
The guy at the podium is the attorney waiting for the judge to arrive. The guy in shirt sleeves is the clerk. He sits on the office chair at the right of the picture and uses the computer that is on the desk. The clerk summarizes the proceedings -- there is no court reporter taking down every word.
If the judge has a monitor (computer screen) he sees what the clerk writes or often dictates what he wants the clerk to write. However, if the judge doesn't have a monitor, and there are a whole lot who don't, well then, the clerk gets to write whatever the heck he/she wants.
The clerk's words become critical at the end of a months-long trial when the judge reads the record to make his decision! More and more judges are getting monitors, which is good for justice in Bulgaria.
Judges work very hard. Stuart was in a trial today that lasted for 5 hours straight, everyone standing, no breaks for lunch, coffee, etc. Judges I have talked to work about 80 hours a week. Stuart's job is to help them be more efficient. Bulgarian Regional Court judges handle about 200 cases a year, and most of them have a leftover caseload of some 300 cases. By contrast, a good municipal court judge in the U.S. can handle about 1500 cases a year with no leftover cases.
Therein lies Stuart's challenge!!
Below is a Sofia court room for criminal cases.
This is more like the size we see in the United States. In these courtrooms, happy little Bulgarians with cutesy names like The Hamster, The Tall One, The Tractor, and, of course, The Titmouse, are tried. These cases are tried by from one to five judges, no juries.
In spite of all the challenges inherent in this sytem, Stuart has found that there are some very admirable elements. Judges are charged with the job of "finding the truth." Consequently, they get very involoved in questioning the witnesses and the defendants and can speed up the system if they wish. The process is informal -- more like a discussion. The effort to get at the truth is a collaborative effort between the lawyers, the witnesses and the judge. The judge does the work rather than the lawyers, deciding what the evidence should be, what experts should be called, what witnesses should be called, etc. Much less formality but fewer checks and balances.
Judges are not experienced lawyers. They are trained for the profession and start right out as first a junior judge (3 years) and then a full-time judge. It's a hard job with long hours and low pay. But we've met several judges and they love it.
OMIB - Our Man in Bulgaria - is getting a lot of press.
This statement was published in one of the newspapers here:
"Back in the communist period, the secret services of the Bulgarian communist regime sponsored the production of captagon (an amphetemine) and its export to the Arab world which, according to research studies published after 2000, provided profits of up to 2000%. These policies were part of the so called 'secret trade' controlled by the communist regime including drugs, arms, gold, antiques. After 1989, the trafficking channels established by the communist regime, were 'privatized' giving rise to mafia structures."
Which means that the crimes that so plague Bulgaria at this time have existed with very little interruption for as many as 60-70 years.
The police have done a good job with collecting evidence and charging criminals as of late. The burden has now shifted to the judges. Since most people think the Mafia has a voice among judges, just yesterday, one of the top judges in the supreme court said he would welcome an investigation of the judicial system. This is good news.
Stuart has met very good judges and continues to hold hope that the system will purge itself of those who are tainted so justice can prevail and the good judges receive the credit they deserve.
Two recent examples of justice gone awry. A Bulgarian committed a bunch of crimes in Greece, including dealing drugs. He was arrested in Greece, tried, and given a long prison sentence. He escaped Greece and came back to Bulgaria AND confessed to all of his evil deeds. The Bulgarian judge (not in Sofia) gave him a suspended sentence and put him on probation. When Greece went bonkers and requested he be extradited back to Greece, the Bulgarian judge said no, that it would be double jeopardy.
The newspapers and the public went bonkers. So the police got involved, re-arrested him for new crimes, searched his house, found drugs, $$$, a slew of stolen credit cards, etc. Now he's back in jail and everyone is watching the case very closely.
Or another one: two guys worked together to commit a crime in Germany. The German was sentenced in Germany and received somewhere around 12 years; the Bulgarian was tried and sentenced in Bulgaria and received 18 months!
And there's this: If you confess to your crime in Bulgaria, the judge MUST give you LESS than the minimum sentence. Stuart saw a case yesterday where the guy confessed to stealing a purse, using the credit card and getting 120 Leva from the lady's bank account. The normal penalty was 3 to 10 years, but because he confessed, the judge was obligated to give him probation.
Fortunately, right now there is a study committee rewriting the penal code to change this.
Bottom line: Don't you LOVE America!!! For all its faults, it is a good country!
Personal Note
Here's the ultimate compliment. We went to an official function last night. The U.S. Embassy PR guy was there. When he saw us he said, "Well, if it isn't Judge Waldrip and his daughter. It's so nice to see you!" I laughed and said, "That is such a NICE thing to say. Do me a favor and say it a couple more times so I can remember it!" He said, "Well, if it isn't Judge Waldrip and his youngest daughter!" As a woman of a "certain age", you just can't get a better compliment than that!
PLUS we are going to see Zorba the Greek, a ballet. Lately I've been intimidated by my neighbors and haven't sneaked a photo. But I've figured out how to do it, so there should be a few seconds of the ballet next blog.
We also saw "The Tales of Hoffman," an opera by Offenbach. Stupendous! Worth seeing/hearing. Brilliantly written (usual silly story), with sumptuous duets, trios, quartets, and ensemble singing, and this one was for the most part brilliantly staged. The one scene with 40 big-bodied opera chorus singers in black leotards and silver diaper-like shorts covered by long clear plastic bag tunics left a lot to be desired. But the rest was brilliant, including a voluptuous (surgical), small-waisted, gorgeous-voiced soprano. Now when do you ever see that???? Too bad I didn't get pictures of that opera. It was wonderful!
We should all have Bulgarian-style mafia names. I would like to be known as The Single.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to be called "The Black-spotted Porcupine Fish". My heavies would be "The Volvo Stationwagon" and "The Self-inflating Portable Camping Mattress".
ReplyDeleteDave, I really feel like you should go with "Lefty" and then Ben could be "son of lefty."
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'll be known as "The Petting Zoo"
I really don't know what to say, Bulgie names, Judges gone bad, Judges gone good, seems like a page out of history. How did we handle this before in the US in the 20ies? Oh, I guess we never did...
ReplyDeleteReally, this is good work and I'm glad to hear it's happening. Keep up the progress.