It was clear that the constitutional reform was initially risky , mostly because of an old interpretative decision from 21 years ago, Decision 3 of 2003, which makes a unique expansive interpretation of the term "form of government". It was clear that the entire reform, especially in the part on the judiciary in the Constitution, but also on the powers of the president, was put at risk of being annulled and declared unconstitutional.
This was stated by the former Deputy Minister of Justice Emil Dechev in "Day ON AIR".
Decisions of the Constitutional Court (CC) are essential for all Bulgarian citizens, he emphasized.
"Regardless of whether you are satisfied or not, you must fulfill it. Inevitably, there is a change in the balance sheets, there is a curtailment of the president's powers. If three of those six judges who, in the Judiciary section, refer to Interpretative Decision No. 3 of 2003 and based on it accept that the reform in the Judiciary section is unconstitutional, they have no way to circumvent this interpretive decision" ;, commented Dechev to Bulgaria ON AIR.
"Formally there is no obstacle to request an interpretation of this norm - art. 151 paragraph 1 of the Constitution. In practice, there is no solution. It is expressly stated that a majority is required for a decision to be taken. This majority of 12 people is 7 judges agreeing. In this case, with a 6 by 6 division, there is no majority. The texts of the Constitution remain. There is no obstacle in the future, in case of a new referral, to form a majority", Dechev believes.
In his words, judicial reform has been stopped and any new attempt at reform will be killed at first.
"One of the big mistakes is that we give equal status to prosecutors and judges. They have different functions. The court must be absolutely independent of political power. The prosecutor's office is an instrument for the implementation of the criminal policy of the state", summarized Dechev.