First instance body dealing with electoral disputes

'The results ofparliamentary elections can be challenged before the Constitutional Court bypolitical parties, coalitions and candidates, including those runningindependently, but only through the
institutions stipulated in theConstitution. In addition, these institutions are not obliged to respond to suchinitiatives by submitting the complaint to the Constitutional Court.Furthermore, once the procedure is initiated, the Constitution does not providea deadline for the Constitutional Court to pass the decision on the complaint.The OSCE/ODIHR and the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission Joint Opinionraised concerns about the limited right to appeal election results.” (p. 19,20)

OSCE/ODIHR ElectionObservation Mission Final Report. Early Parliamentary Elections 12 May 2013,Republic of Bulgaria. Warsaw 25 July, 2013 http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/103878

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 ConstitutionalCourt.

Article 264. (1) The candidatesfor National Representatives or, respectively, for Members of the EuropeanParliament for the Republic of Bulgaria, the central leaderships of the partiescompetent to do so according to the statute, and the leaderships of thecoalitions of parties competent to do so according to the decision on theformation of the coalition, who and which have participated in the elections,may dispute the legitimacy of theelections of National Representatives or the election of a NationalRepresentative or, respectively, of a Member of the European Parliament for theRepublic of Bulgaria, before the authorities referred to in Article 150 (1) ofthe Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria within seven days after thedecision declaring the election results is made public by the Central ElectionCommission.

 (2) Within 15 days after the decisiondeclaring 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 elections of NationalRepresentatives or the election of a National Representative or, respectively,of a Member of the European Parliament for the Republic of Bulgaria.

(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) A judgment of theConstitutional Court establishing illegitimacy of the elections of NationalRepresentatives or of the election of a National Representative or,respectively, of a Member of the European Parliament for the Republic ofBulgaria, shall be transmitted to the National Assembly, the Central ElectionCommission and to the persons concerned.

(5) If the elections ofNational Representatives are pronounced illegitimate, a new election of aNational Assembly shall be conducted not later than two months after renditionof the judgment referred to in Paragraph (4).

Source: Election Code Bulgaria 2011. State Gazette No. 9 of 28 of January, 2011 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: Constitutionof the Republic of Bulgaria Prom.SG 56/13 Jul 1991, Amend.SG 85/26 Sep 2003, SG19/25 Feb 2005, SG 27/31 Mar 2006, SG 78/26 Sep 2006, - Constitutional CourtJudgement No. 7/2006, SG 12/6 Feb 2007

http://www.parliament.bg/en/const

1: 57. According to Articles 264(1), 265(1) and267(1) of the Code, election results may be challenged either before theConstitutional Court (for national or European elections) or the relevantadministrative court (for municipal elections). With regard to national andEuropean elections, Article 150(1) of the Constitution confers the right toinitiate proceedings before the Constitutional Court upon a fewinstitutions.. In order tochallenge election results, a political party, a coalition or a candidate mustapproach one of these institutions within 7 days of the CEC’s decisionvalidating the results; they then have 15 days to file a petition with theConstitutional Court. This means that there is no effective judicial procedurefor challenging election results. In June 2009, the European Court of HumanRights 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 FinalReport. Early Parliamentary Elections 12 May 2013, Republic of Bulgaria. Warsaw25 July, 2013 http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/103878

 It is not clear whether the authorities listed in Article 150 (1) ofthe Bulgarian Constitution obliged to act upon the request of the partyrepresentatives and candidates. Furthermore, these authorities are describes asthe first instance, yet they do not have any decision making power, exceptdeciding whether to process the complaint to the constitutional Court.  Therefore, they cannot be considers as afirst instance.