site.btaConstitutional Amendments Were Forced, Rushed, Broader Consensus Should Have Been Sought - Sofia University Law Faculty Dean

The amendments to the Constitution should be approached with very broad consensus, this time they were forced and rushed, Sofia University Law Faculty Dean Prof. Daniel Valchev said in a BTA interview on Tuesday. He was commenting on the basic law revisions passed by Parliament on December 20, 2023, and the challenges to the constitutionality of the amendments made before the Constitutional Court.

"The most important conclusion is that when the Constitution is being amended and supplemented, a very broad consensus must be sought, a very broad agreement among all - not only among those in the National Assembly, but also among the common people," Valchev said. He added that the public should first be made aware of the reasons, objectives, and risks, and only then should such amendments and supplements be moved.

In his words, this has rather been the case with previous revisions and supplements to the Constitution. "There has always been a broad consensus. I do not know why, but this time it was all forced and rushed," Valchev said.

He pointed out that the proposals for changes to the Constitution, which consisted of 10 pages, were amended and supplemented with another 10 pages between the two parliamentary readings. "This suggests that the sponsors [of the amendments] were not sure and firm enough in their proposals, and they themselves found flaws in them. This does not speak well of such a draft project," Valchev said.

He said that the major driving force behind the amendments were Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria. In his words, for more than 10 years, they have claimed that they knew what should be done about the judiciary and the constitutional framework, but no one gave them the opportunity to prove it, and now that they were given the opportunity, "this is what happened".

Valchev was confident that the Constitutional Court would approach the case wisely, carefully, and responsibly. He believes that the Court will make the best decision regarding the two challenges to the constitutionality of the latest constitutional amendments, which will be examined as a single case because of their similar subject matter.

As to the judiciary, Valchev said that the Judicial System Act was amended and supplemented five times in the second half of 2023. He criticized the frequent revisions to this law and pointed out that one of the weakest points in the Bulgarian justice system is the inefficient summons, a problem that has not been solved for years.