NOTICE ON THE PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA,

PROCESSED BY THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA

Last updated on 9 December 2025

1. General information

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria ensures the supremacy of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria. It is independent of the legislative, executive and judicial powers.

The Constitutional Court:

1.     provides binding interpretations of the Constitution;

2.     rules on requests to establish the unconstitutionality of laws and other acts of the National Assembly, as well as acts of the President;

3.     resolves disputes over competence between the National Assembly, the President and the Council of Ministers, as well as between local government bodies and central executive bodies;

4.     rules on the conformity of international treaties concluded by the Republic of Bulgaria with the Constitution prior to their ratification, as well as on the conformity of laws with generally recognised norms of international law and with international treaties to which Bulgaria is a party;

5.     rules on disputes concerning the constitutionality of political parties and associations;

6.     rules on disputes concerning the legality of the election of the President and Vice-President;

7.     establishes the circumstances under Article 97, paragraph 1, items 1 and 2, and paragraph 2 of the Constitution;

8.     rules on disputes concerning the legality of the election of a member of the National Assembly;

9.     establishes the ineligibility or incompatibility of a member of the National Assembly with the exercise of other functions;

10. rule on disputes concerning the legality of the election of a Member of the European Parliament from the Republic of Bulgaria;

11. rules on charges brought by the National Assembly against the President and Vice-President;

12. lifts the immunity and establishes the actual impossibility and incompatibility of a judge of the Constitutional Court.

In exercising its powers as a personal data controller, the Constitutional Court processes personal data in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679) and other European and Bulgarian legislation in the field of personal data protection.

In exercising its powers, the Court is subject to specific requirements arising from the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Constitutional Court Act and the Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court.

2. Contact details for the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria

Address: Republic of Bulgaria, Sofia, 1 Dondukov Blvd.

Telephone: 02/94023 40, 02/940 23 04

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.constcourt.bg

3. Contact details for the data protection officer

You can contact our data protection officer by email: [email protected]

4. Categories of personal data, purposes and grounds for processing

In exercising its powers, the Constitutional Court processes a minimum set of personal data (name, position, signature) strictly necessary for the identification of the subjects who may refer a case to the Court, or which are contained in the contested acts or in the evidence submitted. The acts of the Court may contain minimal sets of personal data (name, academic position, academic degree) that identify prominent experts from academia and practice who have been invited, pursuant to Article 20a(3) of the Rules of Organisation of the Constitutional Court, to give a written legal opinion on the subject matter of the case. Such sets of personal data may also be contained in the opinions submitted by interested institutions or parties, as well as in expert conclusions. The processing of personal data in connection with the powers of the Constitutional Court is intended to ensure the proper conduct of proceedings and is carried out on the basis of the exercise of official powers deriving from the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Constitutional Court Act and the Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court.

The Constitutional Court may need to process personal data in the course of its administrative activities to comply with legal obligations, for example in connection with competitive procedures for the appointment of civil servants, the performance of duties as an appointing authority, the examination of applications for access to public information, and the rights of individuals in relation to the protection of their personal data. In such cases, personal data strictly necessary for achieving the purpose of complying with the law and properly implementing all regulatory requirements arising from the Civil Servants Act and subordinate legislation, the Labour Code, the Anti-Corruption Act, the Access to Public Information Act, the Public Procurement Act, the Personal Data Protection Act and others relevant to the activity. The basis for the processing of personal data is compliance with the relevant legal obligations arising from such normative acts. The data we process includes:

For candidates in competitive procedures:

• First name, middle name and surname, date of birth, personal identification number, identity card number, citizenship, signature, as well as contact information – correspondence address, telephone number, e-mail, etc.
• Information about educational background – educational degree, additional qualifications, etc., which are required for the position;
• Information about professional experience – previous or current organisations where you have worked, freelance work, etc.

In connection with specific requirements for competitions for employment or for the appointment of a civil servant, it is possible to process special categories of data, such as health data (e.g. medical examination document upon initial employment, as well as when employment has been terminated for more than 3 calendar months), as well as personal data related to convictions (for verification of judicial status).

For employees, the personal data necessary for maintaining an official file under Article 17 of the Civil Servants Act, respectively an employment file under Article 128b of the Labour Code, in which documents relating to the establishment, existence, modification and termination of the respective legal relationship.

In connection with the processing of requests under the Access to Public Information Act, personal data necessary for the identification of applicants – natural persons – is processed: the applicant's full name, correspondence address or consent to use a profile in the secure electronic delivery system under Article 26(2) of the Electronic Governance Act.

5. Source of data

The personal data we process is provided to us by data subjects or obtained from another source, depending on the basis for processing.

6. Who do we share your personal data with? (Categories of recipients of personal data outside the Constitutional Court)

As a rule, we do not disclose your personal data to third parties unless they have a legal basis for receiving it. The categories of recipients of personal data are determined for each specific case according to their legal basis for receiving the data, and may include: state authorities in accordance with their powers (e.g. the National Revenue Agency, the National Social Security Institute and others); banks for the purpose of paying the remuneration due to employees; postal service providers when addressing correspondence to individuals.

7. Period for which your personal data is stored

The cases of the Constitutional Court are stored in accordance with the Rules of Organisation of the Constitutional Court.

Documents that are of temporary operational and reference significance are kept for 3, 5 or 10 years, in accordance with the approved Nomenclature of Cases with Storage Periods. Payroll records are stored for 50 years, in accordance with Article 38(1)(1) of the Tax and Social Security Procedure Code and Article 12(1)(1) of the Accounting Act. The Constitutional Court sets a period of three years for the storage of personal data of participants in staff selection procedures.

When the need for storage ceases to exist, we will destroy your personal data in a secure manner and without undue delay.

8. Your rights as a data subject

In relation to our processing of your personal data, you have the right to:

• access to this personal data (Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679);
• request the correction of incomplete or inaccurate personal data (Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679);
• erase your personal data (Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679);
• restriction of the processing of your personal data (Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679);
• portability of your personal data, if it is processed on the basis of your consent or a contract with you and the processing is carried out by automated means (Article 20 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679);
• object to the processing of your personal data (Article 21 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679).

The Constitutional Court does not apply automated individual decision-making and profiling of data subjects within the meaning of Article 22 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679.

To exercise any of the above rights, you may submit a request through the reception desk (Passes and Letters Office) of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria at the following address: Sofia, 1 Dondukov Blvd. or to the data protection officer at the e-mail address indicated above.

If you consider that the processing of your personal data by us violates the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (Article 77 of the same Regulation) or with a court (Article 79 of the same Regulation). The supervisory authority is the Commission for Personal Data Protection, located at 1592 Sofia, 2 Prof. Tsvetan Lazarov Blvd. website: www.cpdp.bg

9. Transfer of personal data to third countries and international organisations

The Constitutional Court does not transfer personal data to third countries or international organisations. If such transfer is necessary for the fulfilment of a legal obligation, data subjects will be informed prior to the transfer and will be provided with information on the measures applicable in the specific case to ensure the adequacy of the protection of their personal data.

10. Use of cookies by the website www.constcourt.bg

Cookies are small data files that are stored on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. The Constitutional Court website uses cookies to provide you with better functionality when using it.

How can you control cookies?

You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish. For more information, see https://www.aboutcookies.org/. You can delete all cookies that are already installed on your device, and you can also set most browsers to block them. However, you may then have to adjust some settings each time you visit a site, and some services and features may not work.

How do we use cookies?

We use cookies that are necessary for the technical functioning of the website, as follows:

You can block or delete cookies, but in that case, some features of the website may not work properly.

Data on the website www.constcourt.bg

The personal data you may access on the Constitutional Court's website is published to comply with relevant legal obligations, for example in competitive procedures, declarations of interest, or to contact us. In accordance with the principle of "purpose limitation" under Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, personal data should be collected for specific, explicitly stated and legitimate purposes and should not be further processed in a manner incompatible with those purposes.

The website of the Constitutional Court does not provide electronic administrative services. On the website, you can find information about the activities of the Constitutional Court.

Links to other websites

If you use a link that redirects you to another website, it will have its own cookies and personal data processing policy, over which we have no control, and we recommend that you familiarise yourself with them.

Social media

The Constitutional Court maintains a LinkedIn profile to reflect current information related to its activities. You can access it via the corresponding icon on our website, but please note that LinkedIn has its own policy for the protection of personal data processed for its users.

Sending direct messages or comments is not considered an official request for information. If you wish to contact the Constitutional Court officially, please use the contact details provided on our website.

Log files

Like most websites, the Constitutional Court's website collects data in log files. This information includes your IP address, the browser you use (such as Mozilla, IE, Chrome, etc.), your operating system (Linux, Windows, iOS), when you visited our website, and the pages you visited. The use of users' IP addresses to reveal their identity may be necessary in cases where this is required to comply with a regulatory obligation.

11. Processing of personal data under the Law on the Protection of Persons Reporting Violations or Publicly Disclosing Information about Violations (LPPVIV)

When you report a violation through the internal reporting channel of the Constitutional Court, we will process your personal data if you are a whistleblower within the meaning of Article 5(2) of the ZZLSPSPOIN, namely a natural person who reports a violation that has come to their attention in their capacity as, for example, an employee or civil servant, intern, participant in a selection process or other pre-contractual relationship, worker or employee, where the information has been obtained in the course of an employment or service relationship that has been terminated at the time of reporting or public disclosure.

Reports of violations must relate to one or more of the subject areas under Article 3 of the ZZLPSPOIN and concern the activities of the Constitutional Court. A list of European Union acts relating to reports of violations under the ZZLPSPOIN is contained in an annex to the ZZLPSPOIN. If you believe that violations of these acts have been committed or there is a real risk of such violations being committed in our activities and you are among the persons entitled to report violations under this law, you have the right to submit a report through the Court's internal reporting channel.

To submit a written report or a report by e-mail, you can use the sample Form for registering a report for submitting information about violations under the ZZLPSPOIN, filling in only Parts I to V inclusive, sign it by hand or with a qualified electronic signature, and submit or send the completed form to our contact address or to [email protected], addressed to the internal reporting channel.

Access to the personal data contained in the reports of violations is restricted to the employees responsible for reviewing the reports, as designated by the Constitutional Court. The disclosure of the identity of individuals and information related to the reports of violations is permitted only under the conditions of Article 31 of the ZZLPSPOIN.

The personal data contained in the reports and the materials attached to them shall not be transferred to a third country or international organisation.

Personal data shall be stored for a period of 5 years after the completion of the examination of the report, except in the case of criminal, civil, labour and/or administrative proceedings initiated in connection with the report.

The provision of your personal data for the purposes of reporting violations is a mandatory requirement, and failure to provide it and the submission of anonymous reports is an absolute obstacle to initiating proceedings on the report, in accordance with Article 9 of the ZZLPSPOIN.

When processing your personal data, in addition to the rights specified in Regulation (EU) 2016/679, you also have the following special rights under the ZZLPSPOIN:

to decide whether you wish to sign the documented verbal report (Article 15(3) of the ZZLPSPOIN);

to be informed of the receipt of the report within 7 days of its receipt (Article 16(1) of the ZZLPSPOIN);

to receive clear and easily accessible information about the procedures for external reporting to the Commission for Personal Data Protection (CPDP), in its capacity as the central authority for external reporting, and, where appropriate, to the institutions, bodies, services and agencies of the European Union (Article 16(5) of the ZZLPSPOIN);

to be informed of the referral of your report to the CPDP if action needs to be taken on its part (Art. 16, item 11, letter "d" of the ZZLPSPOIN);

to be informed of the actions taken, the final results of the investigation of the report, together with the reasons, within a period not exceeding three months after confirmation of receipt of the report or, if no confirmation has been sent, after the expiry of a period not exceeding three months from the deadline for confirmation (Article 16(4) in conjunction with Article 17(1)(4) of the ZZLPSPOIN).

12. Changes to the information on the processing of personal data

In our efforts to be transparent and keep information about the processing of personal data up to date, we may need to update this notice. We will inform you of this by indicating the date of the last update at the top of the notice.