At its sitting on October 27, 2026, the Constitutional Court ruled on Constitutional Case No. 11/2026. Judge Nadezhda Dzhelepova served as the reporting judge.
The case was initiated at the request of the First Panel of the Pleven District Court, Criminal Division, to determine the unconstitutionality of Article 53(1)(a) of the Criminal Code (CC).
The provision stipulates that, regardless of criminal liability, property owned by the guilty party that was intended for or used in the commission of an intentional crime shall be forfeited to the state; if the property is missing or has been disposed of, its equivalent value shall be awarded.
The Constitutional Court held that the compulsory and gratuitous forfeiture of property that was intended for or used in the commission of the crime is a coercive measure that is not a punishment; therefore, the rules for determining and individualizing punishment do not apply to its enforcement, and it rejected the request of the First Panel of the Pleven District Court.
All 12 constitutional judges participated in the sitting.
The Decision was signed with a dissenting opinion by Judge Sonya Yankulova.
The full text of the Decision: https://www.constcourt.bg/bg/act-10462