The Supreme Administrative Court annulled order No. 11288 of 19.12.2023, issued in administrative case No. 11972/2023 of the Administrative Court of Sofia - City, which ordered the unconditional termination of the dismantling of the monument "Monument" of the Soviet Army”. With the same definition, the Supreme Magistrates leave without consideration due to lack of legal interest the request of Political Party “Revival“ against the actions of the regional governor of the Sofia region to dismantle, cut and remove the monument, announced the press center of the VAS.
The supreme magistrates accept that the order of the court of first instance is inadmissible, because according to the provision of art. 147, para. 1 of the Administrative Procedure Code (APC), citizens and organizations whose rights, freedoms or legal interests are violated or threatened by it, or for whom it gives rise to obligations, have a legal interest in contesting it. The norm expressly provides that the existence of a legal interest is an absolute positive procedural prerequisite, determining the admissibility of the request for the termination of actions carried out by an administrative body or an official, which are not based on an administrative act or the law. Parties to the proceedings under Chapter XV of the APC are those entities whose material rights or legal interests are directly affected or may be affected by the final act for the proceedings. They can be violated, damaged or endangered. In the absence of this procedural prerequisite, there is no justified, direct and immediate legal interest in referral.
The circle of participants in these proceedings is limited. Parties to the substantive legal relationship are the citizen, legal entity or state body seeking protection by making a request to the administrative court, as well as the official or administrative body on that request. In this case, the Political Party "Revival" is not the addressee of the disputed actions. In the special Law on political parties and in particular in Art. 2 of the same specifies that political parties are voluntary associations of citizens with voting rights according to Bulgarian legislation, they assist in forming and expressing the political will of citizens through elections or in other democratic ways, using democratic means and methods to achieve the political your goals.
The political party can freely express a political attitude towards the actions of the administrative body, but does not have the unconditional procedural right under Art. 250 of the APC, respectively to request their termination by court order, as long as it is not directly aimed at affecting her rights and legal interests.
The actions, the termination of which is requested, do not directly and immediately affect the activity of the political party and its subjective rights, which is why the request, as inadmissible, should have been left without consideration. ASSG has not presented any reasons in relation to the rights and interests of the applicant being violated in its capacity as a political party, apart from the announced goals of protecting Bulgarian culture.
In addition to the above, which is an independent ground for invalidating the order, it should be noted that the actions must have been performed at the time the request was submitted. These actions cannot be completed or pending. If the actions are stopped or not started, there will be no direct danger to the legitimate interests or violation of the rights of the person concerned. Therefore, there will be no legal interest for him. This method of legal protection is inapplicable in cases where the groundless actions have been terminated (the dismantling actions were terminated on 14.12.2023, and the appeal of the PP "Revival" was filed on 15.12.2023).
In view of the above, having accepted as admissible the request of a person without direct and immediate legal interest and having examined the dispute in accordance with Art. 250 of the APC, as well as in the absence of the other prerequisites of the factual composition, set out above, the ASSG issued an inadmissible order, which should be annulled. Instead, essentially, the political party's “Revival“ request should be left without consideration as inadmissible, and the proceedings under adm. case No. 11972/2023 according to the inventory of the Administrative Court of Sofia-city to be terminated.
The decision in administrative case No. 1854/2024 of the Supreme Administrative Court is final.