Constitution of Bulgaria (1991) (excerpts)
Constitution of Bulgaria
(relevant parts)
(emphasis added)
{ Adopted on: 12 July 1991 }{ ICL Document Status: 12 July 1991 }
Chapter One Fundamental Principles
Article 1 [State](1) Bulgaria is 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.
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Article 10 [Elections, Suffrage]
All elections and national and local referendums shall be held on the basis of universal, equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot.
Article 11 [Political Parties]
(1) Politics in the Republic of Bulgaria shall be founded on the principle of political plurality.(2) No political party or ideology shall be proclaimed or affirmed as a party or ideology of the state.(3) All parties shall facilitate the formation and expression of the citizens' political will. The procedure applying to the formation and dissolution of political parties and the conditions pertaining to their activity is established by law.(4) There shall be no political parties on ethnic, racial, or religious lines, nor parties which seek the violent usurpation of state power.
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Article 38 [Freedom of Opinion]No one shall be persecuted or restricted in his rights because of his views, nor shall be obligated or forced to provide information about his own or another person's views.
Article 39 [Expression](1) Everyone is entitled to express an opinion or to publicize it through words, written or oral, sound, or image, or in any other way.(2) This right shall not be used to the detriment of the rights and reputation of others, or for the incitement of a forcible change of the constitutionally established order, the perpetration of a crime, or the incitement of enmity or violence against anyone.
Article 40 [Press, Media](1) The press and the other mass information media are free and shall not be subjected to censorship.(2) An injunction on or a confiscation of printed matter or another information medium shall be allowed only through an act of the judicial authorities in the case of an encroachment on public decency or incitement of a forcible change of the constitutionally established order, the perpetration of a crime, or the incitement of violence against anyone. An injunction suspension shall lose force if not followed by a confiscation within 24 hours.
Article 41 [Information](1) Everyone is entitled to seek, obtain, and disseminate information. This right shall not be exercised to the detriment of the rights and reputation of others, or to the detriment of national security, public order, public health, and morality.(2) Citizens shall be entitled to obtain information from state bodies and agencies on any matter of legitimate interest to them which is not a state or official secret and does not affect the rights of others.
Article 42 [Electoral Rights](1) Every citizen above the age of 18, with the exception of those placed under judicial interdiction or serving a prison sentence, is free to elect state and local authorities and vote in referendums.(2) The organization and procedure for the holding of elections and referendums shall be established by law.
Article 43 [Assembly](1) Citizens shall have the right to peaceful and unarmed assembly for meetings and manifestations.(2) The procedure for the organizing and holding of meetings and manifestations shall be established by law.(3) No notice to the municipal authorities shall be required for meetings held indoors.
Article 44 [Association](1) Citizens shall be free to associate.(2) No organization shall act to the detriment of the country's sovereignty and national integrity, or the unity of the nation, nor shall it incite racial, national, ethnic, or religious enmity or an encroachment on the rights and freedoms of citizens; no organization shall establish clandestine or paramilitary structures or shall seek to attain its aims through violence.(3) The law shall establish which organizations shall be subject to registration, the procedure for their termination, and their relationships with the state.
Article 45 [Petition]Citizens have the right to lodge complaints, proposals, and petitions with the state authorities.
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Chapter Three National Assembly
Article 62 [Legislative Authority]The National Assembly is vested with the legislative authority and shall exercise parliamentary control.
Article 63 [Members]
The National Assembly shall consist of 240 members.
Article 64 [Term]
(1) The National Assembly is elected for a term of four years.(2) In case of war, armed hostilities, or another state of emergency occurring during or after the expiry of the National Assembly's term, its mandate shall be extended until the expiryof the circumstances.(3) Elections for a new National Assembly shall be held within two months from the expiry of the mandate of the preceding one.
Article 65 [Eligibility](1) Eligible for election to the National Assembly is any Bulgarian citizen who does not hold another citizenship, is above the age of 21, is not under a judicial interdiction, and is not serving a prison sentence.(2) A candidate for a National Assembly seat holding a state post shall resign upon the registration of his candidacy.
Article 66 [Control]The legitimacy of an election may be contested before the Constitutional Court by a procedure established by law.
Article 67 [Mandate]
(1) Members of the National Assembly shall represent not only their constituencies but the entire nation. No Member shall be held to a mandatory mandate.(2) Members of the National Assembly shall act on the basis of the Constitution and the laws and in accordance with their conscience and convictions.
Article 68 [Incompatibility, Sleeping Mandate](1) A Member of the National Assembly shall not occupy another state post, nor shall engage in any other activity which the law defines as incompatible with the status of a Member of the National Assembly.(2) A Member of the National Assembly elected as a minister shall cease to serve as a Member during his term of office as a minister. During that period, he shall be substituted in the National Assembly in a manner established by law.
Article 69 [Indemnity]Members of the National Assembly shall not be held criminally liable for their opinions or votes in the National Assembly.
Article 70 [Immunity]A Member of the National Assembly is immune from detention or criminal prosecution except for the perpetration of a grave crime, when a warrant from the National Assembly or, in between its session, from the Chairman of the National Assembly, is required. No warrant shall be required when a Member is detained in the course of committing a grave crime; the National Assembly or, in between its session, the Chairman of the National Assembly, shall be notified forthwith.
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Article 84 [Functions]The National Assembly shall:
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4) schedule the elections for a President of the Republic;5) resolve on the holding of a national referendum;(…)
Chapter Four President of the Republic
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Article 93 [Elections]
(1) The President is elected directly by the voters for a period of five years by a procedure established by law.(2) Eligible for President is any natural-born Bulgarian citizenover 40 years of age and qualified to be elected to the National Assembly, who has resided in the country for the five years preceding the election.(3) To be elected, a candidate shall require more than one-half of the valid ballots, provided that more than half of all eligible voters have cast their ballots in the election.(4) Should none of the candidates for President be elected, a runoff vote is held within seven days between the two top candidates. The winner is the candidate who wins the majority of the vote.(5) A presidential election shall be held not earlier than three months and not later than two months before the expiry of the term of office of the incumbent President.(6) The Constitutional Court shall rule upon any challenge to the legality of a presidential election within a month's time after the election.
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Article 95 [Re-election, Incompatibility]
(1) The President and the Vice President shall be eligible for only one re-election to the same office.(2) The President and the Vice President shall not serve as Members of the National Assembly or engage in any other state, public or economic activity, nor shall they participate in the leadership of any political party.
Article 98 [Functions]The President of the Republic shall:1) schedule the elections for a National Assembly and for the bodies of local self-government and shall set the date for national referendums pursuant to a resolution of the National Assembly;(…)
Article 102 [Decrees, Addresses]
(1) Within the prerogatives vested in him, the President shall issue decrees, addresses, and messages.(2) The President's decrees shall be countersigned by the Prime Minister or the minister concerned.(3) No countersigning is required for decrees pertaining to:1) the appointment of a caretaker government;2) the appointment of a Prime Minister candidate;3) dissolution of the National Assembly;4) return of a bill to the National Assembly for further debate;5) the organization and manner of action of the offices of the Presidency and the appointment of their staff;6) the scheduling of an election or referendum;7) the promulgation of a law.
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Chapter Seven Local Self-Government and Local Administration
Article 135 [Territorial Division](1) The territory of the Republic of Bulgaria is divided into municipalities and regions. The territorial division and the prerogatives of the Capital and the other major cities shall be established by law.(2) Other administrative territorial units and bodies of self-government shall be establishable by law.
Article 136 [Election, Referendum](1) A municipality is the basic administrative territorial unit at the level of which self-government shall be practiced. Citizens shall participate in the government of the municipality both through their elected bodies of local self-government and directly, through a referendum or a general meeting of the populace.(2) The borders of a municipality shall be established following a referendum of the populace.(3) A municipality shall be a legal entity.
Article 137 [Association of Municipalities](1) Municipalities shall be free to associate in the solution of common matters.(2) The law shall establish conditions conducive to association among municipalities.
Article 138 [Municipal Council]The body of local self-government within a municipality shall be a municipal council elected directly by the populace for a term of four years by a procedure established by law.
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Chapter Eight Constitutional Court
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Article 149 [Functions](1) The Constitutional Court shall:1) provide binding interpretations of the Constitution;2) rule on challenges to the constitutionality of the laws and other acts passed by the National Assembly and the acts of the President;3) rule on competence suits between the National Assembly the President and the Council of Ministers, and between the bodies of local self-government and the central executive branch of government;4) rule on the compatibility between the Constitution and the international instruments concluded by the Republic of Bulgaria prior to their ratification, and on the compatibility of domestic laws with the universally recognized norms of international law and the international instruments to which Bulgaria is a party;5)rule on challenges to the constitutionality of political parties and associations;6) rule on challenges to the legality of the election of the President and Vice President;7) rule on challenges to the legality of an election of a Member of the National Assembly;8) rule on impeachments by the National Assembly against the President or the Vice President.(2) No authority of the Constitutional Court shall be vested or suspended by law.
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