Abstract:

The Treaty of Berlin was signed in 1878 to provide a balance to the struggle for influence between the great powers within the scope of the Eastern Question. One of the results of this Treaty was the establishment of the autonomous Bulgarian Principality, which was subordinate to the Ottoman State. The Berlin Treaty envisaged the making of a constitution to determine the organization of the Principality. The Treaty also includes a regulation on the making of the Constitution, the time of its validity, the election of the Prince, and fundamental rights and freedoms. Thus, the Treaty of Berlin both forms the basis of the Principality Constitution and determines its general framework to a certain extent. The regulation in the Berlin Treaty, which states that the Principality of Bulgaria was subordinate to the Ottoman State, was removed from the text of the Draft and was not included in the Constitution. The Constitution, which was adopted by the constituent assembly meeting in Tırnova on April 28, 1879, consists of 169 articles in 22 sections. The Constitution, which includes the legislative, executive and judicial branches, contains a list of fundamental rights and freedoms, although it is incomplete. The Constitution, which gives the Prince a superior position in the system, envisages a parliament with limited power to oversee the executive, although it has legislative power. The Constitution remained as the Constitution of the Principality until Bulgaria declared independence and the Kingdom in 1908. The Tarnova Constitution remained in force until 1947, preserving its existence in the Kingdom and Communism periods that came after the Principality.

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