Rule of Law in Bulgaria: Semi-Permanent Transitory Experiences on the Edge between Normative Expectations, Pragmatic Imperativesand Constitutional Imaginaries

This paper explores the evolution and the historic and contemporary challenges to rule of law in Bulgaria. It allocates rule of law within a grid of issues resulting from the semi-permanent transition in Bulgaria. It assesses rule of law as a phenomenon on the edge of normative expectations, pragmatic imperatives and constitutional imaginaries. The paper offers critical analysis of rule of law from the viewpoint of constitutional traditions and constitutional transitions. The paper opens with an outline of the rule of law in the Bulgarian constitutional history. Then, it shows the permutations and phenomenological appearances of rule of law in times of transition. Rule of law is presented as a transgenerational project, a strategy for Europeanization and Modernization, a legal pillar of the constitutional order and a political narrative of society in semi-permanent transition. Finally, the rule of law deficiencies in the contemporary Bulgarian constitutional model are explored with a particular focus on two concrete groups of issues. These are the quasi-eternal reform of the judiciary and the somewhat restricted access to constitutional justice for citizens claiming the infringement of human rights.