The report on the activities of the Court of Appeal – Burgas, the district and district courts of the judicial district for the year 2023 was discussed at a general meeting of the judges in the appellate instance.
The meeting was held in the presence of Mrs. Galina Zakharova, President of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Mr. Evgeniy Staykov, Deputy. President of the Supreme Court of Cassation and Head of the Chamber of Commerce, Mrs. Mimi Furnadzhieva, Deputy. chairman of the Supreme Court of Cassation and head of the Civil Collegium, the Administrative Head of the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office Mr. Lyubomir Petrov, the presidents of the district courts in Burgas, Sliven and Yambol – Ms. Rositsa Temelkova, Mr. Martin Danchev and Mr. Vasil Petkov and judges from the appellate district.
The Chairman of the Court of Appeal – Burgas – Judge Plamen Sinkov presented the results of the work of the court in 2023.
During the year, 1,028 cases were submitted for examination. A total of 1,003 completed cases in 2023, 882 cases were essentially closed with a judicial act, i.e. 87.94% of the total cases completed.
85% of cases were completed within three months. The analysis shows that the speed achieved in the work of the Court of Appeal – Burgas is a permanent trend – always over 80%, which is due to the traditionally good work of the judges, the management and the employees of the court in terms of preliminary preparation, research, scheduling and the timely resolution of cases.
In 2023, a total of 1,145 cases were heard in the Court of Appeal – Burgas, which represents 6.36 cases, an average monthly workload per state for a judge.
During the year, 275 criminal cases were filed. 84% of the pending criminal cases were completed within three months.
A total of 38 cases were returned by the Supreme Court of Cassation, of which the appellate decisions and verdicts in 29 cases or 76.32% were upheld; amended 6 cases, which is 15.79% and canceled 3 cases, i.e. 7.89%.
In accordance with the structure of crime for the reporting year 2023, the highest relative share, analogously to the previous years, is occupied by the decided appealable criminal cases of a general nature for crimes related to transport.
In second place in terms of the number of resolved cases, compared to the total number of appealable criminal cases of a general nature, are those for crimes against the person and mainly murders under Art. 115 and Art. 116 of the Criminal Code. Crimes against the financial and tax system occupy a relatively stable share.
There were 262 civil cases filed. The average length of consideration of appellate civil cases is three months, and of private civil cases – one month, which result is an excellent indicator of conducting the judicial process in a reasonable time, in the context of the practice of the ECHR under Art. 6 of the ECHR.
In 2023, 83.68% of the civil cases resolved during the year were left in force and not allowed for cassation review.
The judges in the civil division have prepared and sent a total of 5 opinions on the initiated interpretative cases to the Supreme Court of Appeals for the adoption of interpretative decisions on issues in which contradictory or incorrect judicial practice has been found.
In 2023, the judges in the Commercial Division had a total of 384 new cases to consider. 79%. of completed cases were completed within 3 months. A total of 91.94% of the resolved commercial cases were upheld and not open to cassation appeal.
The commercial cases concluded with a decision on the merits have a diverse subject matter of the claim.
As the largest group, the cases for settlement of the consequences of non-performance of commercial contracts concluded between the parties and with the subject of bond disputes, including the award of penalties, damages for non-performance and poor performance, unjust enrichment, and represent the largest group of all cases .
Bankruptcy cases and accompanying claims under Art. 694, Art. 647 and Art. 646 of the Commercial Law remain among the most complex.
In 2023, at first instance, the courts of the Appellate Court – Burgas region convicted a total of 268 persons.
Penalties of up to three years of “imprisonment” prevail – for 235 persons, 156 of whom were given conditional sentences. No “life imprisonment” and “life imprisonment without parole” were imposed by the courts during the period. 2 persons were sentenced to 10 to 30 years of “imprisonment”, and 21 persons were sentenced to 3 to 10 years of “imprisonment”. The other penalties imposed are 10 counts.
The court successfully uses digital tools in communication with important target groups. Information about the work of the institution and about cases of public importance is published on the court’s website and on Facebook and Twitter accounts.
And in 2023, the Court of Appeal – Burgas was close to both the youngest members of society and the older students.
The court held the “Open Doors Day” initiative, welcoming over 20 children of preschool and primary school age and about 50 tenth-graders from the Mathematical High School and the Vocational High School for Mechano-Electrical Engineering and Electronics in the city within the framework of three organized events. This information policy continues in the current year 2024.
In conclusion, Judge Sinkov pointed out that the data from the work of the Court of Appeals – Burgas in 2023 show excellent results in terms of the reasonable time for the completion of cases and the instance control, and during the year the court worked openly and transparently, informing the public both about all cases with of particular interest, as well as for important highlights of his activity outside the administration of justice.
The president of the court thanked the judges for their integrity, professionalism and good work based on trust and mutual respect.
The President of the Supreme Court of Cassation – Judge Galina Zakharova congratulated the magistrates from the region for their effective work during the year and noted that the basis of actual judicial independence is integrity and professionalism. On behalf of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Judge Zakharova presented an honorary plaque to the President of the Court of Appeal – Burgas.
The accounting report for 2023 is published on the court’s website.
