Who is considered to be Bulgarian citizen as per the Constitution?
The matter of citizenship is the building block of every society. If there is no clear rule as to who is a citizen, then there is no society at all. In Bulgaria, there seems to be a serious fundamental problem as to who really is considered to be a Bulgarian citizen. For many years we have drawn the attention of the public and the authorities to this problem, but unfortunately so far nothing has improved. You can read more in our articles Bulgarian citizen vs citizenship by origin and Bulgarian citizenship and Bulgarian constitution – lost in the translation.
Citizenship and Investments Ltd and ITAP Ltd are officially addressing the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Constitutional Court
On 03.07.2024, Citizenship and Investments Ltd, lawyer Hristo Vasilev and ITAP Ltd, represented by Mr Alexander Dobrinov, have filed with the Chairman of the Bulgarian National Assembly the following formal statement (the original Bulgarian text is available here).
STATEMENT
to the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Constitutional Court
Dear Mrs Chairman or the National Assembly,
Citizenship and Investments Ltd provides consultancy and complex administrative services to foreigners regarding the legal possibilities for obtaining Bulgarian citizenship.
A large part of the scope of our work includes an analysis of the relevant legislation, in particular the Bulgarian Citizenship Act and the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria. As a key player in the resolution of issues related to the institution of Bulgarian citizenship, we actively assist government authorities in the correct interpretation of Bulgarian legislation. We believe that the experience we have gained over the years can be of benefit to both the executive and legislative authorities.
In view of the above, we would like to draw attention to a significant issue related to the Bulgarian and English versions of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria published on the official website of the National Assembly, and in particular to Article 25, par. 1. A careful comparison of the Bulgarian and English versions reveals a substantive discrepancy in the translation, which leads to serious conceptual changes in the meaning of the text. The Bulgarian version of Art. 1 reads:
The English version published on the Parliament’s website has the following, conceptually different meaning:
The meaning of the Bulgarian text is that a Bulgarian citizen is one who has at least one parent – a Bulgarian citizen. The Bulgarian text does not set any additional conditions. The English text, however, narrows the scope of the norm by introducing an additional presumption, namely that the Bulgarian citizen must have been “born” of at least one Bulgarian citizen parent. These are two completely different concepts, as the parent may have acquired Bulgarian citizenship after the birth of the child. In such a case, according to the Bulgarian text, the child is a Bulgarian citizen, while according to the English translation – not. In other words, the English translation of Art. 25 par. 1 of the Constitution implies the application of the norm only to Bulgarian citizens by birth, which is different in meaning from the original Bulgarian text.
We believe that in order to be accurate, the translation of the English text of Art. 25, par. 1 of the Constitution, its content should state that a Bulgarian citizen is one who has at least one parent who is a Bulgarian citizen. And this without any additional conditions, namely:
Next, we should mention that we believe that the provisions of the Bulgarian Citizenship Law misinterpret the provision of Art. 25, par. 1 of the Constitution. In fact, the Citizenship Law is adopting precisely the meaning of the English translation of the Constitution. We believe that these differences should be assessed for legality by the Constitutional Court. We remain at your disposal if you wish us to provide more information on the case.
The incorrect translation can lead to misunderstanding of the constitutional provisions, especially by foreigners, which can have significant consequences for both the citizens and the institutions – the administrative bodies that implement the law.
In view of the above, please review in detail the English version of Art. 25, par. 1 in order to ensure an exact correspondence with the original Bulgarian text. The accuracy of the translation is of utmost importance to ensure the correct understanding and application not only of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria but also of all legislation related thereto.
Dear Mrs Chairman or the National Assembly,
Once you have verified the above provision of the Constitution, as posted on the National Assembly web-page, please advise us of your findings.
With regard to our view on the differences in the content of the two versions of the aforementioned provision, we attach a translation by our translator as well as two independent translation platforms.
Yours faithfully,
attorney Hristo Vasilev & Alexander Dobrinov
We will keep you, the reader informed about the response of the Bulgarian National Assembly and/or the Constitutional Court. As always, should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.