The National Assembly, a unicameral legislature, is the only legislative body of the central government, but legislative initiative has been extended to several other governmental organs. In practice the State Council appears to be the most powerful organ of government as well as the principal initiator of legislative matters. The assembly, which meets only three times each year in short sessions, would appear to have more form than substance in the actual governmental affairs of the country. It would seem to be impossible for anyone to become a member of the assembly or of the State Council without prior approval of the BKP (see ch. 9).

The assembly's 400 members represent voting districts of equal numbers of inhabitants per delegate. The term of office is five years. This was another innovation in that the BKP hierarchy decided that party congresses would be held every five years instead of four and, therefore, elections to the National Assembly should be changed in the same manner. In the exercise of its functions, the National Assembly can dissolve itself, and in emergency situations it may extend its term.

The manner in which the National Assembly operates, that is, the infrequency and brevity of sessions, makes it imperative for permanent commissions, in addition to the State Council, to carry on the multifarious functions of the assembly. In 1971 there were twelve permanent commissions, half of which had overlapping functions with various ministries. The constitution does not specify how many permanent or interim commissions the assembly should appoint but leaves such matters of organization to the assembly itself.

Local Government

Territorially, Bulgaria is divided into twenty-eight districts (okruzi; sing., okrug), about 200 municipalities, and about 5,500 villages. The municipalities, if size warrants, are divided into urban constituencies (rayoni; sing., rayon), whereas villages are usually grouped together to form rural constituencies known as obshtini (sing., obshtina). Since 1959 the number of districts has remained constant at twenty-eight, which includes one for the city of Sofia. The number of urban and rural constituencies, on the other hand, changes frequently as the population increases and as people move from the countryside to the cities or move from cities to suburban areas. Districts and urban and rural constituencies are governed on the local level by people's councils, and in the 1971 elections there were almost 1,200 such councils with a total of more than 53,000 elected officials.

Each people's council has an elected executive committee, which is constantly in session and which acts for the council during the long periods when the full body is not meeting. On the local level the executive committee is to the people's council what the State Council is to the National Assembly on the national level. An executive committee usually consists of a chairman, a first deputy chairman, several deputy chairmen (depending on size), and a secretary. The interlocking of party and governmental positions that is the hallmark of the central government is repeated at the district and rural and urban constituency levels, and often the members of a people's council executive committee are also the most prominent members of the local party organization. An executive committee usually serves for the entire term of its people's council.

In the implementation of national policy, people's councils are under the supervision and control of higher councils all the way up to the central government. The hierarchical and pyramidal structure of the people's councils, wherein the lowest bodies are subject to the direction of the next higher and of the highest bodies, is an example of the application of Lenin's principle of democratic centralism. Coincident with this structure of government is the parallel structure of the BKP, whose members are in control or are influential at every level.

People's councils are empowered to adapt decisions and orders of higher authorities to their own individual needs. Local councils prepare plans and budgets in consonance with the national plans and, after decisions have been made at the national level, the local councils conform to the national policy. People's councils are involved in the day-to-day affairs of their constituencies in government services and administration, the maintenance of public order, the protection of state and communal property, and the protection of the rights of its citizens. In these areas the local police, known as the People's Militia, are the instruments of the local council, but their responsibility is also to the next higher level and on up to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (see ch. 15).

JUDICIAL PROCEDURE

The highest judicial organ is the Supreme Court, the members of which are elected by the National Assembly for five-year terms. Below it are twelve regional and ninety-three district courts, and the military courts. The Supreme Court is a court of original jurisdiction as well as of appellate jurisdiction. It is organized into criminal, civil, and military divisions. In the administration of justice, courts and prosecution are referred to as "weapons of the dictatorship of the proletariat." Judges and assessors take part in the dispensation of justice. These positions are elective.