The Istanbul Convention and the Bulgarian Constitutional Court. Lost in translation?

Abstract

The essay aims at analyzing the sentence no. 13 of 27 July 2018 of the Constitutional Court of Bulgaria, which ruled on the compliance of the Istanbul Convention with the Constitution. This decision is of particular interest, since it represents the first legal result of a movement against the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, born and raised in the countries of Eastern Europe in last years. Despite the inconclusive outcome, as the decision is made in the form of a mere legal opinion, its analysis allows to understand how it ends up having a negative impact on the fundamental rights of the individual, including dignity and equality, and in particular of women.

Keywords: Istanbul, women, violence, gender, Bulgaria.