CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Source: CODICES

Decision 05/2001 of 22 March 2001 (summary)

a) Bulgaria / b) Constitutional Court / c) / d) 22.03.2001 / e) 05/01 / f) / g) Darzhaven Vestnik (Official Gazette), 30, 28.03.2001 / h) .

Headnotes:

Parliament's term of office begins on the date on which the members of parliament are elected.

Summary:

Proceedings were instituted by 70 members of parliament, who asked for a binding interpretation of [ENG-BUL-A-64] Article 64.1 of the Constitution to determine precisely when parliament begins to exercise its powers and, at the same time, exactly when its four-year term of office begins.[ENG-BUL-A-64] Article 64 of the Constitution stipulates that parliament is elected for a four-year term of office which may be extended only in times of war, state of siege or other exceptional circumstances. This article alsostipulates the period of time, after expiry of the previous parliament's term of office, within which a new parliament may be elected.

The Court held that parliament was elected by the people through the intermediary of the electorate. It was a form of constitutionally established people's representation. Parliament therefore began to exercise its powers and responsibilities on the day on which it was elected. The election was the only act delegating power to parliament. Neither the decisions establishing the lawfulness of the elections, nor the swearing-in of the members of parliament, nor the introduction of parliamentary rules of procedure conferred power on parliament.

Parliament was elected for a four-year period, which could only be extended in exceptional circumstances. This was why neither the period as such nor the time from which it began to run could be dissociated from the election itself. Parliament's powers and responsibilities began with its investiture.

The Court also considered it necessary to point out that, in Bulgarian constitutional history, except in cases where its term of office had been extended by law, parliament had never been dissolved after expiry of its term of office, which began on the day on which its members were elected.

In the light of the foregoing, the Court held that parliament's four-year term of office, stipulated in [ENG-BUL-A-64] Article 64.1 of the Constitution, began from the time of its election.

The dissenting opinion of one of the judges noted that elections merely designated the persons who would hold seats and exercise powers in the parliament thus elected. Parliament, like all collective bodies, first had to be constituted. The constitutive act was its first sitting, during which members of parliament were sworn in. It was at this precise point in time that the collective body thus constituted began to operate. It should therefore be concluded that, as a collective, independent and permanent body, parliament began to operate as from the date of its first sitting and from the time its members were sworn in, and that this point in time should be considered separately from the date on which the members of parliament were elected.