Bulgaria · Overview
The legal system of Bulgaria
A civil-law system with an unusual feature: Bulgaria has no single civil code, and private law is spread across the Obligations and Contracts Act, the Property Act, the Persons and Family Act and the Commerce Act. The currency board has pegged the lev to the euro since 1997, and euro adoption is in preparation.
Legal tradition
Bulgaria belongs to the civil law tradition. A civil-law system with an unusual feature: Bulgaria has no single civil code, and private law is spread across the Obligations and Contracts Act, the Property Act, the Persons and Family Act and the Commerce Act. The currency board has pegged the lev to the euro since 1997, and euro adoption is in preparation.
How power is divided
Parliamentary government with a directly elected President whose veto Parliament overrides by absolute majority; the Constitutional Court sits apart from the two supreme courts.
Where law comes from
- Constitution
- Supreme law; only listed bodies may seek review.
- EU law
- Applicable since 2007; precedence within its field.
- International treaties
- Article 5(4) gives ratified treaties precedence over conflicting domestic law.
- Statutes
- Obligations and Contracts Act, Commerce Act, Criminal Code.
- Secondary legislation
- Council of Ministers decrees, ordinances and tariffs.
- Interpretive decisions
- Issued by the two supreme courts and binding on lower courts.
The legal profession
Attorneys (адвокати) are admitted through the regional bars under the Supreme Bar Council; notaries and private enforcement agents are organised in separate chambers.
Found something out of date on Bulgaria · Overview?
Corrections are reviewed against the primary source before anything changes.