LEGAL SERVICES IN BULGARIA

You can find a lawyer in Bulgaria that can provide you with all the legal services that you need and that you can usually find at home. Bulgaria is a member-state of the European Union and often Bulgarian lawyers have good connections with their colleagues in other member-states, as well as in many other countries. In every city or small town in Bulgaria there are lawyers ready to provide you with the legal assistance that you need. They are all members of the Bulgarian Law Society and you can find their contact details on its web site.

Many local lawyers speak English and you can find lawyers speaking French, German, Russian, Greek, Turkish or other languages and foreign embassies in Bulgaria can give you information how to get in touch with such lawyers and what type of legal work they specialize in. If however your lawyer does not speak the language that you speak, you can communicate with him with a translator. There are many translation agencies all through the country.

SOLICITOR IN BULGARIA

If you plan to register a company or purchase a property in Bulgaria you need to hire a solicitor in order to have a peace of mind and be sure that you will not miss something important.  It is better to find an English speaking solicitor, so that your communication is directly with him. 

In case that you would like to register a company a solicitor will prepare the full set of documents that you need to sign and he will provide you with the necessary legal assistance in during the process of the registration, so that you will have security and not waste time to get your Bulgarian company ready for business.

If you are planning to buy a property in Bulgaria, your local solicitor will check for lien the property you are interested in and then he will make sure that your rights as a buyer are protected all through the process of the purchase and your registration as the new owner of the property.

Do you need a solicitor/lawyer in Bulgaria?

Many ex-pats wonder if they will actually need a solicitor/lawyer in Bulgaria. The solicitor/lawyer will save a lot of money and time of his clients, and mostly he will protect their legal rights in any situation. Being in a foreign country makes the need of a solicitor/lawyer even greater. The law system in Bulgaria is civil and it has many similarities to the French and the German systems. A solicitor/lawyer in Bulgaria is a highly qualified person who has a university degree in law and he has spent years studying and practicing law.

Solicitors/lawyers have vowed to help their clients and to care for them. They have the right to provide you with legal support and advice. To represent you in court (they can act as barristers) and to draw legal documents. Though solicitors/lawyers in Bulgaria are registered in legal bars according to the geographic area of the country where they operate, they can represent you at all courts or other institutions throughout Bulgaria.

You will need a solicitor/lawyer in Bulgaria in quite a large number of situations:

• when you buy or sell a property; the solicitor/lawyer will protect your right of ownership. Or he will help you to buy a property free of lien by making a research at the relevant state institutions. He will acquire all necessary documents for the deal
• if you register a company; the solicitor/lawyer will prepare the full set of documents for the registration and will make the process easier for you. He can advise you in the course of your work with his knowledge of the laws and the legal procedures regarding the nature of your business;
• if you would like to draw and sign a business or rental contract or prenuptial agreement. Your solicitor/lawyer will discuss with you the different options and possible pitfalls and he will help you negotiate terms which protect your interests;
• if you would like to draft a will your solicitor will help you describe your properties and with the way you will distribute it;
• in case that you are involved in court proceedings and claims, your solicitor/lawyer will represent you to the best of your interest in the court proceedings and hearings, and he will be aware of the best possible approaches to court procedures, as well as he will help you make the most relevant statements in support of your case;
• you cannot be fooled by false information if you use the services of a solicitor/lawyer because he has a vast scope of specific knowledge and he cannot be easily misled as other people.

The administration of the Bulgarian justice system consists of three instances.

The state institutions that administers justice are the courts. The cases are civil, criminal and administrative. There are 113 District Courts, 28 Provincial Courts, 28 Administrative Courts, 1 Specialized Criminal Court, 5 Courts of Appeal, 1 Specialized Criminal Court of Appeal, 5 Military Courts, 1 Supreme Court of Cassation and 1 Supreme Administrative Court. The territorial jurisdictions of the district, provincial, administrative, military and appeal courts do not necessarily coincide with the administrative division of Bulgaria.

The administrative courts have jurisdiction over all actions seeking: the issue, amendment, repeal or annulment of administrative acts. A declaration that an agreement covered by the Administrative Procedure Code is null or void. Redress against unwarranted actions and omissions by the administration. Protection against unlawful coercive enforcement. Compensation for injury resulting from unlawful acts, actions or omissions by administrative authorities and officials. Compensation for injury resulting from coercive enforcement. he annulment, invalidation or setting-aside of judgments rendered by administrative courts A finding that an administrative act covered by the Administrative Procedure Code is not authentic.

Anyone can bring a legal action for ascertainment of the existence or non-existence of an administrative right or legal relationship, provided he or she has an interest and no other remedy is available. Cases are examined by the Administrative Court within whose geographical jurisdiction the seat of the authority which issued the contested administrative act is located. If that seat is located abroad, cases are referred to the Sofia City Administrative Court. Administrative acts directly implementing Bulgaria’s national foreign. Defence or security policy are not subject to judicial appeal, unless otherwise provided for in law.

Other Specialised Courts

• Military courts examine, as courts of first instance, criminal cases concerning offences allegedly committed in the performance of their duties, or in connection therewith, by generals, officers, non-commissioned officers and rank-and-file in the Bulgarian army, civilian staff at the Ministry of Defence and personnel at other ministries and agencies within the structures reporting to the Minister of Defence, at the National Security Agency and at the National Intelligence Service. For such cases, the court of second instance is the Military Court of Appeal. The Criminal Procedure Code sets out the jurisdiction of the military courts. These courts have the same status as a provincial court.
• There is only one Military Court of Appeal, which examines appeals and objections lodged against decisions handed down by military courts nationwide.
• The courts of appeal consider appeals and objections against first-instance rulings by provincial courts within their territorial jurisdictions.
• The Specialised Criminal Court, which has its seat in Sofia, is equivalent to a provincial court. Its jurisdiction is laid down by law. The criminal offences are under the jurisdiction of the Specialised Criminal Court
• The Specialised Criminal Court of Appeal considers appeals and objections lodged against decisions handed down by the Specialised Criminal Court.
• The Supreme Court of Cassation is the supreme judicial instance in criminal and civil cases. Its jurisdiction covers the entire territory of the Republic of Bulgaria. It exercises supreme judicial review over the proper and uniform application of laws by all courts. It has its seat in Sofia.
• The Supreme Administrative Court exercises supreme judicial review over the proper and uniform application of laws by administrative courts.

The Supreme Administrative Court

• The Supreme Administrative Courtdeals with complaints and objections against acts by the Council of Ministers, Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, ministers, heads of other institutions directly subordinate to the Council of Ministers, acts of the Supreme Judicial Council, acts of the Bulgarian National Bank, acts of district governors and other acts established by statute; it adjudicates on challenges to the lawfulness of statutory instruments of secondary legislation; as a cassation instance, it examines judicial acts, adjudicates in administrative cases and examines applications for final judicial decisions in administrative cases to be set aside.
• Arbitration Court at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• The Arbitration Court settles civil disputes and disputes over filling gaps in contracts or adapting contracts to new circumstances, regardless of whether one or both parties have their registered office or domicile in the Republic of Bulgaria.
• Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Constitutional Court acts as guarantor for the irreversibility of the democratic processes in Bulgaria. The realisation of which is the Constitution’s main aim. This court is not part of the judicial system. It is an independent body which derives its powers directly from the Constitution and which operates under a special law. The Court’s decisions on, inter alia, the protection of citizens’ human rights. And legal interests, the separation of powers, the inviolability of private property, free enterprise, the independence of the media, the prohibition of censorship and the constitutionality of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities have won considerable public and international acclaim.