- A noisy silence disturbs the Bulgarian institutional tranquility- like the anxiety of a mother when the baby stops crying. For more than a year there has not been a challenge against a law before the Constitutional court- with one exception by the national ombudsman. One would recall that the mandate of the current chief prosecutor started with the withdrawal of a complaint by his predecessor before Constitutional court to pre-empt the court’s decision on that complaint.
- One explanation could be that the new legislation coming out of parliament is perfect and therefore there is no reason to challenge any provision before Constitutional court. But this is hardly the case judging from the frequent parliamentary repairs of newly passed laws and from EU criticism.
- But the more probable explanation is that all those who are constitutionally authorized to challenge laws before constitutional courts- president, government, chief prosecutor, supreme courts presidents, ombudsman and 20% of MPs- they all hold ranks and agree with the parliamentary majority. The uneventful stand-by of the Constitutional court is a surprisingly precise mirror of the political solidarity between the so called divided powers. Their discipline of inaction indicates that they behave as participants in a broader coalition of a ruling establishment.
- This Coalition of Inaction explains why the Bulgarian political establishment would never allow ordinary citizens to lodge direct complaints with Constitutional court. Yet it is worth checking how many of those inacting potential constitutional court litigators have been once members of the Communist party- if they have it is easy to understand their perception that power is indivisible and that the legislating party is always right.
- The bright side of the above is that the restraint to challenge laws before Constitutional court indicates a silent concern that not all judges would “behave properly” and that there is a real chance a challenged law to be abolished by the Court.
February 2008
Braykov’s Legal Office