Ruling No. 14 of 26 November 2024 on Constitutional Case No. 30/2024
Referring Authority and Subject Matter of the Case
The case was initiated upon a request by a panel of the Sofia City Court. The subject of the case concerns the constitutionality of Article 164, paragraph 1, item 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code, according to which a search of a person during pre-trial proceedings may be conducted without the authorization of a judge from the competent first-instance court, or from the first-instance court in whose district the action is carried out, upon person’s detention. In the request, the main argument for unconstitutionality is that the provision contradicts Article 30, paragraph 2 (no one may be detained, inspected, searched or subjected to any other interference with the personal inviolability thereof except under terms and according to a procedure established by a law) in conjunction with paragraph 1 (the right to personal liberty and inviolability) of the Constitution.
Summary of the Court’s Reasoning
The request for establishing the unconstitutionality of the contested provision has already been examined by the Constitutional Court in constitutional case No. 19/2024. In the request submitted in the present constitutional case, the petitioner presents arguments for unconstitutionality with respect to which the Constitutional Court has already ruled in Ruling No. 6/2024 on constitutional case No. 19/2024. The arguments put forward in the present request relate to the same legal issue that was the subject of the request in constitutional case No. 19/2024.
The above leads to the conclusion that the submitted request does not meet the requirements of Article 21, paragraph 6 of the Constitutional Court Act (when the Constitutional Court has ruled by a decision or by a ruling on the inadmissibility of a request, further requests on the same subject may not be presented), in the context of Article 150, paragraph 2 of the Constitution (any court may refer a matter to the Constitutional Court to establish a contradiction between a law applicable in the specific case and the Constitution). Even if a new request is made by a judicial panel in a specific case, the Constitutional Court will assess the admissibility of that request on general grounds, regardless of any previous dismissal of a request with the same subject matter in another case. The proceedings in the present case should not proceed to consideration on the merits, and the request should be dismissed as inadmissible due to the identity of the legal issue with that in constitutional case No. 19/2024.
Grounds for the Ruling and Disposition
Pursuant to Article 13 (the Constitutional Court determines on its own whether the question referred to it falls within its jurisdiction) and Article 21, paragraph 6 (when the Constitutional Court has ruled by decision or by ruling on the inadmissibility of a submitted request, no new requests on the same subject may be made) of the Constitutional Court Act, and pursuant to Article 25, paragraph 1 (the case is examined in two phases - on the admissibility of the request and on the merits) and Article 26, paragraph 1 (where a request is inadmissible, it shall be dismissed by a reasoned ruling and the proceedings shall be terminated) of the Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court, the Constitutional Court dismisses the request for establishing the unconstitutionality of Article 164, paragraph 1, item 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Председател: Павлина Панова