site.btaConstitutional Court Fails Again to Reach Majority on 2023 Constitutional Amendments

The Constitutional Court has once again failed to reach the required majority to issue a ruling on the substance of a case challenging parts of the constitutional amendments adopted at the end of 2023, according to a statement published on the Court’s official website on Thursday.

The case concerns provisions related to: the removal of the ban on dual citizenship as a mandatory requirement for eligibility to be elected as a Member of Parliament; the introduction of the principle of continuity of the mandate of the National Assembly and individual MPs; and the newly established procedure for forming a caretaker government, including the appointment of a caretaker prime minister.

The case was brought before the Court following requests by 55 Members of the 51st National Assembly, another group of 53 MPs from the same parliament, and the President of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Judges Borislav Belazelkov, Galina Toneva, and Orlin Kolev maintained that the requests were inadmissible.

Judges Pavlina Panova, Atanas Semov, Yanaki Stoilov, Sonya Yankulova, Sasho Penov, and Nevin Feti considered the requests well-founded and the contested provisions unconstitutional.

Judges Nadezhda Dzhelepova, Krasimir Vlahov, and Desislava Atanasova found the requests unfounded and deemed the challenged amendments in line with the Constitution.

All twelve constitutional judges participated in the deliberations.