At its sitting on 11 June 2026, the Constitutional Court issued a ruling in Constitutional Case No. 1/2026, dismissing the petition filed by the Supreme Bar Council and terminating the proceedings in the case.
The subject matter of the case was to determine the unconstitutionality of Art. 368, para. 3; Article 368, paragraph 2, second sentence, in the part: “to the prosecutor under paragraph 3” of the Code of Criminal Procedure (published in the State Gazette, No. 86 of 2005, last amended and supplemented in the State Gazette, No. 51 of 2026; CPC) and §8 of the Transitional Provisions of the Law Amending and Supplementing the Code of Criminal Procedure (published in the State Gazette, No. 97 of 2025).
In the reasoning for its ruling, the Constitutional Court states that it rejects the request and dismisses the case, since, prior to the ruling on the merits, the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Law on Combating Corruption among Persons Holding Public Office, adopted by the 52nd National Assembly on May 29, 2026, amended the provision of Article 368, paragraph 3 of the CPC. The new wording of the aforementioned provision also affects Article 368(2) of the Penal Procedure Code, and as a result of the amendments, §8 of the Transitional Provisions of the Law Amending and Supplementing the Penal Procedure Code no longer has an independent scope of application.
As a result, Case No. 1/2026 becomes moot, and thus the legal interest in considering the request to declare the provisions unconstitutional ceases to exist.
All 12 constitutional judges participated in the session. The Ruling was adopted with 10 votes in favor.
The Ruling was signed with a dissenting opinion by Judge Nevin Feti and with a dissenting opinion by Judge Sasho Penov.
Link to the full text of the Ruling: https://www.constcourt.bg/bg/act-10347