nam 22 uu 4500 10.59704/1e12e461f7d14a10 DE-Verfassungsblog cr||||| 251001s2025||||xx#|||||o|||| ||| 0|eng|| 10.59704/1e12e461f7d14a10 doi eng 342 23 Thavard, Blaga Author aut Systemic Pathologies - Bulgaria’s Crisis of Legality Thavard, Blaga Verfassungsblog 2025-10-01 Text txt rdacontent Computermedien c rdamedia Online-Ressource cr rdacarrier Bulgaria has been marked by worrisome developments pointing to its democratic decline. After the Sofia Court of Appeal upheld the pre-trial detention of the city of Varna’s mayor Blagomir Kotsev, the Supreme Judicial Council refused to apply the six-month limit on Borislav Sarafov’s tenure as acting Prosecutor General. Taken together, these episodes point to a systemic pathology: institutions formally invoke the law, yet interpret it in ways that deprive it of its normative sense. Legality is reduced to form without substance, and no longer protects rights but instead serves as an instrument of institutional self-preservation and control. CC BY-SA 4.0 Democratic Backsliding Judiciary Principle of Legality prosecution Prosecutor General Rule of Law Max Steinbeis Verfassungsblog gGmbH Verfassungsblog 2366-7044 https://verfassungsblog.de/bulgaria-legality-crisis/ raw object