Decision No. 16 of 3 October 2024 on Constitutional Case No. 14/2024
Referring Authority and Subject Matter of the Case
The case was initiated upon a request by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria for establishing the unconstitutionality of the Decision, adopted by the National Assembly on 29 March 2024, entrusting the Minister of Energy, respectively “BEH” EAD, with the task of not distributing a dividend from the profit of “BEH” EAD for the 2023 financial year (the Decision). The request argues that the Decision is unconstitutional on the grounds that it breaches the principles of the separation of powers and the rule of law, as well as the principles of inviolability of private property and equality of private property holders within a market economy. The request further concludes that the Decision contradicts the powers of the National Assembly under Article 84, item 2 of the Constitution to adopt the state budget, and the powers of the Council of Ministers under Article 105, paragraph 1 and Article 106 of the Constitution to direct and implement the internal and external policy of the country in accordance with the Constitution and the laws, as well as its power to manage the execution of the state budget.
Summary of the Court’s Reasoning
The Constitution draws a clear line between the powers of the legislative and the executive branches with respect to the adoption of the state budget by the National Assembly (Article 84, item 2 of the Constitution), on the one hand, and its proposal, implementation, and reporting by the Council of Ministers (Article 87, paragraph 2 and Article 106 of the Constitution), on the other. In the present case, instead of the budget parameters being amended at the initiative of the Council of Ministers and subsequently voted on and adopted by the National Assembly, the legislature has violated the constitutional procedure by depriving the Council of Ministers of its right to initiate such amendments. Through the contested Decision, the Council of Ministers is also stripped of its constitutional power under Article 106 of the Constitution to direct the execution of the state budget.
The Constitution establishes the National Assembly as the national representative body, but it also divides state power into legislative, executive, and judicial branches (Article 8 of the Constitution), not allowing any of them to dominate the others, and requiring that they mutually balance and restrain one another. The National Assembly cannot adopt decisions that restrict or prohibit activities of the executive branch performed on the basis of the Constitution and within the scope of its statutory powers. In this case, the National Assembly’s Decision instructing the Minister of Energy “not to distribute a dividend from the profit of ‘BEH’ EAD” infringes the principle of separation of powers, which is a cornerstone of democratic governance under the rule of law.
The National Assembly’s failure to comply with the applicable legislative framework violates the formal component of the rule of law - the principle of legal certainty - and results in an erosion of the principle of separation of powers. In particular, the authority to decide on the distribution of dividends from the profit of “BEH” EAD within the meaning of Article 14, item 3 of the Public Enterprises Act (PEA), in conjunction with Article 13 of the PEA and the 2024 State Budget Act, belongs exclusively to the Council of Ministers, which may choose to exercise this authority either as a collegial body or through the competent line minister.
The decision of the National Assembly instructing the Minister of Energy not to distribute a dividend from the profit of “BEH” EAD is constitutionally intolerable. By usurping, through the contested decision, constitutional powers that belong to the Council of Ministers, the National Assembly has violated the principle of separation of powers, the principles of the rule of law, and the supremacy of the Constitution, and therefore the Decision should be declared unconstitutional.
Grounds for the Ruling and Disposition
Pursuant to Article 149, paragraph 1, item 2 of the Constitution (the power to rule on requests for establishing the unconstitutionality of laws and other acts of the National Assembly), the Constitutional Court declares unconstitutional the Decision assigning the Minister of Energy, respectively “BEH” EAD, not to distribute a dividend from the profit of “BEH” EAD for the 2023 financial year, adopted by the National Assembly on 29 March 2024.
Председател: Павлина Панова