За голямата и малката беля, като за малката и голямата правда
On Big and Little Troubles as on Little and Big Truths (malenkaya pravda/bolshaya pravda)

A Comment on Constitutional Court Decision No. 10 of 23 July 2020 (promulgated State Gazette, no. 70, 7 August 2020)

Summary/Abstract: The article is a commentary on a decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria in connection with the „state of emergency“ implemented for in the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, provided for in the current constitution, and its replacement by „emergency epidemiological situation“. The first part offers a textual analysis of a number of laws in Bulgaria, in which there are still applications of norms related to military threats, disasters and accidents, epidemics. Against this background, it is concluded that the introduced „emergency epidemiological situation“ is a hybrid formulation, which simultaneously over-empowers the executive branch and avoids constitutional principles related to the seriousness of the state of emergency and its democratic regulation. The second part assesses the restriction of fundamental rights – especially with the introduction of forms of state of emergency in Bulgaria – in the name of „constitutionally recognized values“ against the background of standards valid in international law. The title of the article is related to a tradition from the socialist past of Bulgaria, when the thesis of „small“ and „big“ truth was accepted as valid, which justified political decisions contrary to individual interests and rights.

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