The lawsuit was initiated on a complaint of legal expert Ivan Gruikin from August 2010 saying that the fees are illegal because they are arbitrarily calculated and contradict the principles of cost-recovery and economic feasibility. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Court (VAS) has revoked the collection of fees by the Interior Ministry for the issuance of personal documents.

The decision of VAS revokes the provisions of an ordinance saying that the Interior Ministry collects the fees for new passports and ID cards under the State Fees Act, according to an announcement of the Justice civil initiative as cited by private TV station bTV.

The decision of VAS means that Bulgarian citizens are not supposed to pay fees for the issuance of personal documents.

The lawsuit was initiated on a complaint of legal expert Ivan Gruikin from August 2010 saying that the fees are illegal because they are arbitrarily calculated and contradict the principles of cost-recovery and economic feasibility.

The decision is signed with a note of dissent by Judge Vanya Puneva and can be appealed by the Interior Ministry before a 5-judge panel of VAS.