Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria

Prom. SG. 56/13 Jul 1991, amend. SG. 85/26 Sep 2003, amend. SG. 18/25 Feb 2005, amend. SG. 27/31 Mar 2006, amend. SG. 78/26 Sep 2006, amend. SG. 12/6 Feb 2007, amend. and suppl. SG. 100/18 Dec 2015, amend. and suppl. SG. 106/22 Dec 2023

Preamble

We, the Members of the Seventh Grand National Assembly, guided by our desire to express the will of the people of Bulgaria, by pledging our loyalty to the universal human values of liberty, peace, humanism, equality, justice and tolerance; by holding as the highest principle the rights, dignity and security of the individual; in awareness of our irrevocable duty to guard the national and state integrity of Bulgaria, hereby promulgate our resolve to create a democratic, law-governed and social state, by establishing this

CONSTITUTION
…………………………………………

Chapter one.
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

Art. 1. (1) Bulgaria shall be a republic with a parliamentary form of government.
(2) The entire power of the state shall derive from the people. The people shall exercise this power directly and through the bodies established by this Constitution.
(3) No part of the people, no political party nor any other organization, state institution or individual shall usurp the expression of the popular sovereignty.
…………………………………………

Art. 5. (1) The Constitution shall be the supreme law, and no other law shall contravene it.
(2) The provisions of the Constitution shall apply directly.
(3) No one shall be convicted for action or inaction which at the time it was committed, did not constitute a crime.
(4) Any international instruments which have been ratified by the constitutionally established procedure, promulgated and having come into force with respect to the Republic of Bulgaria, shall be considered part of the domestic legislation of the country. They shall supersede any domestic legislation stipulating otherwise.
(5) All legislative acts shall be promulgated and shall come into force three days after the date of their promulgation unless otherwise envisaged by the acts themselves.

Art. 6. (1) All persons are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
(2) All citizens shall be equal before the law. There shall be no privileges or restriction of rights on the grounds of race, nationality, ethnic self-identity, sex, origin, religion, education, opinion, political affiliation, personal or social status or property status.

…………………………………………

Chapter three.
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Art. 91a. (new - SG 27/06) (1) The National Assembly shall elect an ombudsman who intercedes for the rights and freedoms of the citizens.
(2) The powers and the activities of the ombudsman shall be regulated by a law.

Art. 91b. (New - SG 106/23) The National Assembly shall observe the principles of openness, transparency, publicity and motivation when electing members of bodies that are wholly or partially elected by it, in order to guarantee their independence.
(2) Decisions to elect members shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of all members of parliament, when this is provided for by law.
…………………………………………

Chapter eight.
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Art. 150. (1) The Constitutional Court shall act on an initiative from not fewer than one-fifth of all Members of the National Assembly, the President, the Council of Ministers, the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Supreme Administrative Court or the Chief Prosecutor. A challenge to competence pursuant to para 1 subpara 3 of the preceding Art. may further be filed by a municipal council.

(2) (Amend. - SG 106/23) Any court, on motion from a party to the case or on its own initiative, may appeal to the Constitutional Court with a request to establish a discrepancy between a law applicable to the particular case and the Constitution. The case’s proceedings shall continue, whereby the court, whose decision is final, shall issue the judicial act after conclusion of the proceedings before the Constitutional Court.
(3) (New – SG 106/23) The Prosecutor General may appeal to the Constitutional Court with a request as per Art. 149, Para. 1, items 2, 5, 6 and 7.
(4) (New - SG 27/06, previous Para. 3 - SG 106/23) The ombudsman may approach the Constitutional Court by a claim for establishment of an unconstitutional law which violates the rights and the freedoms of the citizens.
(5) (New - SG 100/15, previous Para. 4 - SG 106/23) The Supreme Bar Council may refer to the Constitutional Court a request for declaring as unconstitutional an Act which violates rights and freedoms of citizens.

…………………………………………

The full text of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria (amend. and suppl. SG. 106/22 Dec 2023) is available HERE.