The Constitutional Court confirmed that the National Assembly can elect and dismiss the chairmen of the State Agency “Intelligence“ and the State Agency “Technical Operations“ upon a proposal from the Council of Ministers. The two decisions were issued on October 8 and reject the requests of 53 members of parliament from the 51st National Assembly to declare the changes unconstitutional.
The court ruled on the DATO case with Decision No. 15 on constitutional case No. 16/2025. With Decision No. 16 on constitutional case No. 17/2025, the Constitutional Court examined the changes related to DAR. In both cases, the magistrates accepted that the election and dismissal of the chairmen by a decision of the parliament does not contradict the Constitution.
Parliament replaces the presidential decree
Before the legal amendments, the chairmen of the two agencies were appointed by a presidential decree upon a proposal from the Council of Ministers. The new order provides for the government to nominate a candidate, and the National Assembly to make the final decision on both the election and dismissal.
“Constitutionally established powers of the president are not being seized“, the Constitutional Court stated in its decision on the DAR. According to the court, the power of the head of state to appoint other civil servants, determined by law, is granted by legislative act and can be changed by parliament when it does not affect an explicit power arising directly from the Constitution.
The Constitutional Court also accepted that once the structure and functions of DAR and DATO are regulated by law, the legislator can also determine the procedure for selecting their heads. The court also found no violation in the change by which the number of deputy chairmen of each of the agencies was set at three.
How the decision was reached
The disputed texts were adopted in October 2025. The bill on amendments to the DAR Act was approved in the first vote on October 2 with 117 votes “for“, 60 “against“ and 2 “abstains“. The law was adopted on a second vote on October 10, 2025, and the changes were promulgated in November.
The request to the Constitutional Court was submitted by 53 deputies of the 51st National Assembly. They challenged both the transfer of the election from the president to the parliament and the legislative procedure. Among their arguments was the claim that the new order disrupts the balance between the president, the government and the National Assembly and creates a risk of politicization of leadership positions.
In both cases, Atanas Semov, Yanaki Stoilov and Nevin Feti have signed dissenting opinions on some of the contested provisions. Their positions do not change the final result, with which the changes remain in force.
The decisions of the Constitutional Court confirm the parliamentary model for electing leaders of DAR and DATO. The Council of Ministers reserves the right to propose candidates, and the National Assembly has the final say.
Sources: bntnews.bg, nova.bg, dnes.dir.bg