Constitutional Court upholds 2026 budget but strikes down individual amendments
The ruling concerns Labour Code provisions and the mechanism for judicial pay, not the budget as a whole.
Share this article
The Constitutional Court rejected a challenge seeking to declare Bulgaria's entire 2026 state budget unconstitutional. The ruling was issued on 20 October in case 15/2026 and the joined cases 16 and 18.
However, the court declared amendments to Article 355, paragraphs 1–4 of the Labour Code, introduced through the budget law, unconstitutional. Its reasoning was that they were not directly linked to state revenue and spending for the year.
The ruling also concerns the part of Article 218, paragraph 2 of the Judiciary Act linking judicial pay to 60% of a member of parliament's basic monthly salary. The court found that such a lasting change exceeded the permissible scope of the annual budget.
A departure from budget constraints does not by itself make the whole law unconstitutional, the court said. The challenge to paragraph 46 was dismissed without a ruling on its merits. Some judges signed dissenting opinions and separate statements.
Source: Constitutional Court, announcement of 20 October 2026
Illustrative photo: Tingey Injury Law Firm / Unsplash, Unsplash licence. A statue of Themis, not a photograph of the hearing. Cropped to 1200×675 px.
