ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the several roles played simultaneously by the constitutional courts which make them ultimate players in multilevel constituent power games. It demonstrates how European Union (EU) membership creates further opportunities for domestic courts – in this case the Bulgarian Constitutional Court (BCC) – to engage with ‘multilevel constituent power games’ and to become key players in the ‘ordering of constitutional orders’ overcoming the constitutionally entrenched separation between constituent and constituted powers. The chapter also demonstrates how the BCC is performing such rather controversial and highly arguable roles and functions. It will outline the BCC’s role as ultimate player in multilevel constituent power games. The Bulgarian case requires attention because the jurisprudence and the general stance of the BCC with regard to Bulgaria’s integration in the EU’s multilevel constitutionalism are still rather under-researched. Courts should only check the observance of the legal framework for transfer of competences and powers stemming out of the domestic legal order.
