At its sitting on 19 February 2026, the Constitutional Court ruled on constitutional case No. 15/2025, reported by Judge Nevin Feti.
The Court found that the provision of §45, item 3 of the Law Amending and Supplementing the Road Traffic Law, which introduces a restriction on performing technical inspections of road vehicles in cases of unpaid fines or property sanctions for violations committed with the same vehicle. The provision was challenged by the ombudsman before it entered into force on May 6, 2026.
In its reasoning, the Constitutional Court noted that the effect that would be achieved after the entry into force of the contested provision is that the periodic technical inspection of road vehicles as a measure for road safety and environmental protection would also become a means of coercion for the enforcement of certain public obligations.
The Constitutional Court is consistent in its practice that "the satisfaction of duly established public claims should first and foremost be ensured through effective enforcement proceedings aimed not at the self-serving sanctioning of the debtor's person, but rather at locating their property and collecting the established monetary claim in the most appropriate and expeditious manner for the benefit of the creditor" (Decision No. 6/2023 on Case No. 7/2023).
The sanctioning of the debtor in this case is through restricting him in the performance of his legal obligation, which in itself is a restriction of property established in the public interest. In view of this, it cannot be accepted that a balance has been achieved between the public interest and the protection of fundamental rights, and in this case two public interests are opposed – road safety and the collection of public receivables.
The decision was taken unanimously by all constitutional judges.
Link to the text of the Decision - https://www.constcourt.bg/en/case-707