site.btaExperts Comment on Consequences of Constitutional Court's Decision Regarding Constitutional Changes

Experts commented on the consequences of the decision of the Constitutional Court (CC) regarding the changes in the Constitution. The case was initiated at the request of President Rumen Radev and 48 MPs from the 49th National Assembly to establish the unconstitutionality of changes to the Constitution introduced by the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Constitution.

Director of the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives Bilyana Gyaurova-Wegertseder said in a BTA interview on Sunday that the next National Assembly must necessarily start the procedures for choosing a long list of bodies with expired mandates, including the two most important bodies in the judiciary - the Inspectorate and the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC). 

Gyaurova-Wegertseder noted that through this action the discussion about the direction of politics in relation to the judiciary can be resumed.

She also believes that there will not be a broad debate after the return of some of the texts for changes to the Constitution, at least in the coming weeks.

FORUM Association Chair Maria Karagyozova also argued in a VTA interview that there can be no debate about the changes in the Constitution declared unconstitutional.

She explained that the Constitutional Court (SC) has ruled and will move on to the implementation of its decision - the return of the old structures of the SJC as they were before and to everything that concerned judicial power.

There can only be a debate on the texts that were not declared unconstitutional because the votes of the judges in the Constitutional Court were six against six, said Karagyozova.

She noted that these are issues that can be raised again and debated accordingly.

The only thing Parliament can do within its powers is to synchronize the Judiciary Act with the decision of the Supreme Court regarding changes it declared unconstitutional. A new composition of the SJC must be elected to choose the next Prosecutor General and President of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC), Karagyozova pointed out.