First instance body dealing with electoral disputes

ElectionCode Bulgaria 2011. State Gazette No. 9 of 28 of January, 2011

Article 263. Any disputesregarding the legitimacy of the election of National Representatives, of aPresident and Vice President of the Republic and of Members of the EuropeanParliament for the Republic of Bulgaria shall be resolved by the Constitutional Court.

Article 265. (1) Thecandidates for President and Vice President of the Republic, the centralleaderships of the parties competent to do so according to the statute, and theleaderships of the coalitions of parties competent to do so according to thedecision on the formation of the coalition, who and which have participated inthe elections, may dispute the legitimacy of the election of a President andVice President before the authorities referred to in Article 150 (1) of the Constitutionof the Republic of Bulgaria within seven days after the decision declaring theelection results is made public by the Central Election Commission.

(2) Within 15 days afterthe decision declaring the election results is made public by the Central ElectionCommission, the authorities referred to in Article 150 (1) of the Constitutionof the Republic of Bulgaria may approach the Constitutional Court with areasoned petition to pronounce on the legitimacy of the election of a Presidentand Vice President of the Republic.

(3) Any such petition shallbe examined under the terms and according to the procedure established by theConstitutional Court Act and the Regulations on the Organization of theActivities of the Constitutional Court.

(4) The ConstitutionalCourt shall examine the petition and shall pronounce within one month after thedeclaration of the election results.

(5) A judgment establishingillegitimacy of the election of a President and Vice President of the Republicshall be transmitted to the National Assembly, the Central Election Commissionand the persons concerned.

(6) If the election of aPresident and Vice President of the Republic is pronounced illegitimate, a newelection after rendition of the judgment referred to in Paragraph (5).

Source: http://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/?pdf=CDL-REF(2011)008-e

Constitution of the Republic of BulgariaArticle 150. (1)The Constitutional Court acts on the initiative of no less than one-fifth ofthe members of the National Assembly, the president, the Council of Ministers,the Supreme Court of Appeals, the Supreme Administrative Court or the ChiefProsecutor. Arguments on the question of authority as per Item 3, Paragraph 1of the preceding article may be submitted by municipal councils, as well.

Source: Constitution of the Republic of BulgariaProm.SG 56/13 Jul 1991, Amend.SG 85/26 Sep 2003, SG 19/25 Feb 2005, SG 27/31Mar 2006, SG 78/26 Sep 2006, - Constitutional Court Judgement No. 7/2006, SG12/6 Feb 2007 http://www.parliament.bg/en/const

1: 57.According to Articles 264(1), 265(1) and 267(1) of the Code, election resultsmay be challenged either before the Constitutional Court (for national orEuropean elections) or the relevant administrative court (for municipalelections). With regard to national and European elections, Article 150(1) ofthe Constitution confers the right to initiate proceedings beforethe Constitutional Court upon a few institutions..In order to challenge election results, a political party, a coalition or acandidate must approach one of these institutions within 7 days of the CEC’sdecision validating the results; they then have 15 days to file a petition withthe Constitutional Court. This means that there is no effective judicialprocedure for challenging election results. In June 2009, the European Court ofHuman Rights concluded that similar provisions laid down in the then applicableParliamentary Election Law did not provide for effective remedy due to the limited category of persons andbodies which may refer a case to the Constitutional Court. Theabove-mentioned articles should be amended accordingly so that the Codeprovides effective remedies for challenging election results (OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report.Early Parliamentary Elections 12 May 2013, Republic of Bulgaria. Warsaw 25July, 2013 http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/103878

It is not clear whether theauthorities listed in Article 150 (1) of the Bulgarian Constitution obliged toact upon the request of the party representatives and candidates. Furthermore,these authorities are describes as the first instance, yet they do not have anydecision making power, except deciding whether to process the complaint to theconstitutional Court.  Therefore, theycannot be considers as a first instance.