The aim of the monitoring study is to identify, trace over time and explore the attacks in Bulgaria against courts, judges and their professional organisations.

The media monitoring study and analysis set out below have two main aspects:

–   In the first place, they outline the attacks against courts in the media and those implicit in statements made by public figures with strong opinion-making potential, including attacks from representatives of the three branches of government — judiciary, executive and legislative — and by representatives of non-governmental organisations, including sociologists and political scientists. The analysis then seeks to uncover and explore the underlying reasons, gauge the intensity and explore the nature of the attacks against courts on the part of leading opinion makers in Bulgaria.

–    They also provide a chronological account of the media publications containing attacks against courts, judges and their professional organisations. The monitoring exercise takes a critical look at journalistic articles purporting to report on developments in the judiciary (materials and information updates relating to key events); interviews with opinion leaders; analyses; commentaries and investigations with implications for the judiciary.