I. Bulgarian written law has its roots all the way back in the time of Khan Krum

Khan Krum's laws, known for their severity and rigour, lay the foundations of Bulgarian written law at the beginning of the IX century. The reason behind their creation was to establish common legislation for all of Khan Krum’s subjects. They were mainly aimed at promoting high standards in the Bulgarian society for the protection of private property (its regulation and protection), achieving equality of rights as enjoyed by the Proto-Bulgarians and the other nationalities in the common state, protecting the poor population against robberies, slanders and perjurers, liars, thieves and their accomplices through establishing appropriate punishment for their crimes, and taking measures to overcome poverty among a significant part of the population, deter and eliminate drunkenness among the people through his mandate that all vineyards be ripped out.

„Suda“ (10th century), a Byzantine encyclopaedia, states that Krum’s laws were a legal code, established in the time of the First Bulgarian State by its ruler a century earlier – Khan Krum.

As the legend in „Svidas“ tells us, Khan Krum interrogated Avar prisoners about what led to the degradation and destruction of their country. It was based on their responses that he later created his laws.

II. Bulgarian written law after Christianisation

The Christianisation of the Bulgarian population led to developments in the field of law. Bulgarian written law was heavily influenced by the Byzantine Empire, as it originally followed the Byzantine model – translated were their Agricultural laws and Nomo canon, while the Byzantine Eclogue served as basis for the later created Slavonic.

Gradually arose the need to establish laws that more fully would correspond to the features of the Bulgarian society and state. The creation of those laws came about primarily through reception of existing Byzantine legal collections of canonical and secular laws.

Deriving from Title 17 of the Byzantine Eclogue and influenced by the well-established norms of the Slavs was created original Bulgarian law – Law for Judging People. State jurisdiction was imposed in criminal cases, separate legal sectors were also developed and established.

Prior to the years of Ottoman rule, customary and state laws existed alongside each other within the Bulgarian state. The written law did not have universal application - initially it was only administered in major administrative centers in state and church courts. Unification of the written law was also lacking, so that various legislative acts were governed differently by the same legal institutes.

III. New Bulgarian private law

Civil law constitutes a significant part of every country’s legal system. Civil and commercial law are a system of norms that regulate the proprietary relations existing between individuals within the society, as well as the relevant immaterial relations. Civil law governs various contractual relations, proprietary relations, hereditary and family relations.

The New Bulgarian civil law was built on the foundations laid by the Roman legal system, enshrined in the French Civil Code of 1804, the Italian Civil Code of 1865, but it has also borrowed from other countries’ legal systems.

Before the Liberation of Bulgaria, the Turkish civil code — „Medzhele“ – was applied. It is rather archaic in its form and content, a feudal law that is essentially a collection of norms, deriving their nature from the holy law — „Sharia“. Despite its considerable volume, it lacked norms governing the law of succession and land law, and family law was completely absent. Moreover, in the years after the Liberation, the Turkish civil code did not correspond to the development of European legal theory and practice, and in some respects was contrary to our legal traditions.

Trade relations were governed by the Trade Act of 1850, which largely reproduced the provisions of the French trade code (Code de commerce) of 1807. Therefore, the Turkish trade law with its clear structure and brevity made it more suitable for law application. In its first part it contained general rules governing trade and in the second – insolvency of traders. The law did not govern commercial transactions, publishing contracts, insurance, etc., which were outlined in the new commercial laws enacted in the other European countries. The year 1861 marked the introduction of the Commercial Procedure Act, which had limited application, and 1863 — the Maritime Commerce Act.

Despite the apparent weaknesses of the Turkish private law, the aforementioned laws were used by Bulgarian courts insofar as they were capable of responding to public needs. Gradually, parts of "Medzhele" and the trade law were replaced by laws enacted by the National Assembly – Inheritance Law and Guardianship Law (1890), Law of Obligations and Contracts (1892), Trade Law (1897), Law of Property, Ownership and Servitudes (1904), and others.

IV. Bulgarian contract law

One of the first and most important and significant acts in the field of civil law is the Law of Obligations and Contracts (LOC) of 1892. Its adoption made it possible to govern contractual relationships on the basis of fairness and the principles adopted in the legal systems of developed European countries. The Law on Obligations and Contracts contained rules governing trade and stimulated the development of economic relations between individuals in a society aspiring to economic and cultural development.

Its creation was influenced by the Italian civil code (Codice civile) of 1865, which was in turn based on the French civil code (Code civil, Napoleonic code).

The first section of LOC contains provisions for the sources of obligations, giving the most attention to contracts (subject, reason, action and interpretation of contracts), the different types of commitments, ways of discharging the obligations and others.

The second section provides for the various types of contracts:

• contracts for the transfer of ownership (purchase and exchange),
• contracts for paid use of goods and labour (property rental, loan of property and loan for use). LOC regulates labour as voluntary and gratuitous.
• Company contracts
• Other contracts: proxy, agreement, rent, insurance, deposit, surety and guarantee.

Following the Roman legal system, our law makers also adopted the relevant principles which underpin Bulgarian contractual law.

The new economic relations, which are based on the sanctity of private property, impose the appropriate proclamation of the equality of citizens.

Bulgarian contract law is based on the freedom of the citizen and their right to own property, from which derives the other fundamental principle - "freedom or autonomy of contracts". It is provided for in Art. 9 of the LOC and consists in allowing any individual to conclude contracts if they so want; everyone is free to choose their contractual partner; the parties are free to include in the contract whatever they consider appropriate, and the parties may enter into a contract in whatever form they wish.

Freedom of contract is restricted by the principle that everything is allowed that is not prohibited by law.

Legal contracts "have the force of law between the parties." They can only be terminated by mutual agreement or by court order for reasons provided by the law.

LOC has subsequently been amended and supplemented, as its contents were influenced by the German civil law. It is repealed in 1951 when replaced by eponymous law created based on the principles of socialist law and planned economy.

V. Bulgarian inheritance law

The law of succession regulates the legal relations arising on the death of a person. There was a variety of resources of the Bulgarian law of succession - some courts applied the provisions of the Muslim religious law relating to the division of the inheritance; others - the provisions governing succession contained in the Turkish land law of 1858; sometimes invoked were the medieval Kormchaya book or the six-volume law book of Harmenopoulos, as well as Novella 118 of Justinian; the few judges with legal training applied the French law of succession and the overwhelming majority of judges who had no professional training – the common law of succession.

The Bulgarian Succession Act (SA) entered into force in 1890 and decided on all matters in the field of inheritance law, as the standards of living required and in accordance with the rules of succession, rather modern for their time. Book One covers: Chapter I – Succession by law; Chapter II – Succession by will; Chapter III - General rules on succession by law and by will; and Book Two: Chapter I – Persons who may donate or receive a donation; Chapter II – Form and effect of donation; Chapter III – Withdrawal of donation; Chapter IV – Reduction of donation.

The contents of the Succession Act allow for the formulation of the following principles acquired from the Roman legal system:

• freedom of succession — each person is free to inherit, unless unfit or incapable under the law;
• equality of successors regardless of their gender

Two forms of succession exist — by law and by will. The inheritance is regarded as a set of property rights and obligations.

In the history of Bulgarian law of succession, these principles are known to the ‘eclogue law’ applied in Medieval Bulgaria. In addition, it should not be forgotten that in the period XV-XIX c. hereditary relationships between Bulgarians were governed by our ethnic laws, which is based on very different principles.

Inheritance by law presupposes that the testator made no express declaration in a will.

Bulgarian population for centuries permanently excluded daughters from inheriting the estate of their fathers.

Even more significant is the second amendment to the law made in 1906. According to this amendment, in cases where no absolute equality between the heirs was established, regardless of their sex, the legislature imposed fairness. The amendment creates a new legal regime of inheritance of descendants:

• when descendants are of the same sex, they inherit equally.
• when descendants are of different sexes, they inherit depending on the nature of the estate.

Illegitimate children do not inherit by law. When their origin is fathered or declared by the father, they may challenge the legitimate children of the deceased. However, their hereditary part is always two times smaller than that of legitimate children.

The will is a revocable unilateral act by which a person disposes of their entire estate or part thereof following their death for the benefit of one or more persons (Art. 44 SA). Testamentary dispositions of the entire estate or a specified part thereof are called general (universal) and they grant the recipient a successor status. All other dispositions of the testator are called private and grant the person receiving the respective part of the estate legatee status.

Following the principle of equality of citizens, the SA states that "any person who under the law has not been declared incapable may dispose of their property by will." For a person to make a will, they must:

• be at the age of 18 or over;
• have sufficient mental capacity at the time of making the will.

The Bulgarian law of succession recognises two forms of will: ordinary and special (particular) wills. Ordinary wills are: personally handwritten and notarised.

A personally handwritten will is one that has been written entirely at the hand of the testator, including the date it was made (day, month, year) and bears his handwritten signature. These formalities are required, as it is drawn up without any participation from public authorities and does not enjoy much confidence. The will may be at the home of the testator, as well as be given for storage by another person or a notary.

Notarised wills are public or secret. The public will is written by the notary under the dictation of the testator in the presence of four witnesses. After it is written, it is read and signed by the testator, notary and witnesses. This type of will must be kept with the notary. As the will reflects the personal and free will of the testator, he may subsequently add to it, to change it entirely or in part, and also withdraw it. The testator may designate one or more persons as executors of his will.

In addition to these two types of ordinary will, the legislator has also permitted special wills, which are exceptional to the general rule and are written under exceptional circumstances (military wills, maritime wills).

The testator is the legal owner of his property, but in order to preserve the interest of legal successors, the SA contains a separate part dedicated to those interests. There are rules by which the legislator has restricted the testator to deprive his legal successors of the right to receive parts of his property. The legally indefeasible part in favour of the successors is also regulated by law. There are rules by which the legislature restricting the testator to deprive their legal heirs the right to receive part of his property. Legal indefeasible in favor of descendants is regulated by law.

Book Two of SA also regulates donations.

VI. Bulgarian family law

As a branch of the legal system, family law regulates public relations arising from marriage, kinship or family relations between persons. The New Bulgarian family law was formed and developed under the influence of the principles of the Roman legal system (the Civil Code of France, Code civil). This extremely personal and sensitive matter was regulated for decades under an archaic legal regime established by the canon law of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

In the first few decades after the Liberation, based on the Roman legal system several pieces of legislation governing family relations were adopted: the Guardianship Act and the Recognition, Legitimation and Adoption of Illegitimate Children Act of 1890, and the Natural Persons Act of 1907.

Until 1945, the year of the Decree-law on marriage and family, our law on marriage was governed by canon law not civil law and remained outside the secular civil law. Throughout the period source for legal norms on engagement, marriage and divorce was the Eparchial Statute of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

Therefore, sources of family law were in fact the laws adopted by Constitutional arrangements and instruments created under canon law. This variety of resources meant that:

• the state recognised and attached civil legal status to every marriage that was concluded by the competent ecclesiastical authorities of all faiths;
• the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the spiritual authorities of other faiths had jurisdiction in matters of marriage and divorce, while the state through its courts decided on property relations between spouses, issues of dowry, inheritance, support of the spouse and children. Exception to this rule was the mufti court, which under the Civil Procedure Act has jurisdiction to decide on personal and property relations between spouses and between parents and children.

The engagement as an agreement as between a man and a woman for a subsequent marriage was arranged sparingly. The Church gave the engagement a religious form called obruchanie. Possible termination of the engagement could be performed only by a decision of the ecclesiastical authority of the respective diocesan council. Property claims under engagement disputes, however, were under the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts.

For a regular marriage the ES required the future husband and wife to be legally capable. Marital capacity occurred when young men turned 19 and girls - 17 (by 1895 the minimum age was higher - 20 for men and 18 for girls). It was explicitly stated that "in exceptional cases the Holy Synod may authorise marriage at an earlier age."

Regarding the age requirement for the future husband and wife, our church was guided by the common canon law. The Eparchial Statute did not place a limit on the age after which the marriage would be an act physically and morally impossible. In the period of early Christianity, 24th rule of Basil the Great determined that such age is 70 for men and 60 for women. ES did not consider questions about the wide disparity in the age of the future husband and wife, as was done in some other jurisdictions. According to the canonical practice of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the high age of men and women and the great difference in the age of the newlyweds is not an obstacle to marriage, but may be grounds for a hierarchic ban on the marriage.

Apart from the requirement for reaching the minimum age, other conditions to fulfill by the newlyweds were:

• to have the consent of their parents, guardians or custodians, who must also be Eastern Orthodox Christians;
• to not be related as prohibited by the church (by blood, affinity or spiritually);
• to not already be married to another;
• to not suffer any mental illness;
• to not have been convicted of celibacy by a religious court;
• to have been baptised and
• to express their mutual consent to marry.

Marriage between Orthodox Bulgarians is carried out through a religious rite - venchanie, whereby the man and woman are declared husband wife and subsequently arise the consequences from the marriage. Since venchanie is a sacrament, it excludes the possibility of marriage between Christians and non-Christians. Persons of non-Christian communities marry as prescribed by their religion. In this sense, the religious marriage, which is only prevalent in our country, discriminates against otherwise equal citizens by law on the basis of religion.

In the second half of XIX c., civil marriage dominated in almost all European countries, while alongside also practising religious marriage. Although in time voices were raised in favour of the introduction of civil marriage in Bulgaria, it did not receive the support of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church until 1945.

Although in the eyes of the Christian church marriage was a union between a man and a woman for life, its termination became natural with the death of a spouse. For various reasons marriage was sometimes deprived of its purpose to be physical and spiritual union between a man and a woman and became a burden for both, and therefore grounds were formulated because of which the marriage would be terminated prematurely.

Grounds for divorce were:

• a four-year absence of the husband, when his residence is unknown, or when it is known, but he does not provide for the family;
• a three-year absence of the wife, when she does not fulfill her duties to her husband; wives of soldiers were obliged to wait for their men while they were away on military service;
• adultery by one of the spouses;
• when one of the spouses slips into desperate drunkenness so much so that they abandon the family and wreck the family home;
• when one of the spouses becomes agitated or violent, treats their spouse in an inhumane manner, tortures or ruthlessly abuses their spouse;
• when one of the spouses is convicted of theft, fraud, murder or sentenced to another other heavy or shameful punishment;
• when one of the spouses accuses the other of adultery before the court, but no proof exists, etc.

Marriage was terminated by a decision of the Diocesan Council and the confirmation of the archbishop. Divorce by mutual consent between the spouses was not allowed.

The first secular law in the area of family law is the Guardianship Act (GA) that entered into force in 1890.

VII. Bulgarian commercial law

In the Middle Ages commercial law was established as a separate branch of private law and was initially formed as the law of merchants. Its norms subjected only persons members to the trade guilds. Gradually over time various business practices were established and promoted, and trade disputes were assigned to persons called consuls who had knowledge of the established practices. Collections of commercial practices and and trade decisions in commercial disputes were compiled. Thus the trade law developed into a specific estate law which helped resolve any disputes between persons engaged in commercial activities. As time passed, trade law came to its full transformation into commercial law, whose norms regulated professional trade and industrial relations.

The core content of commercial law includes transactions that traders concluded in connection with their professional activities. Little by little the rules governing the effects of insolvency of traders also developed. The content of commercial law was further enriched as it started including various trading companies, bank transactions, shipping etc.

The formulation of the draft Commercial Act in 1894 was inspired by the provisions of the Hungarian Commercial Act of 1875 and the Hungarian Bills of Exchange Act of 1876. Much of its content is taken from the Romanian Commercial Act of 1887, representing a faithful reproduction of the Italian Commercial Act of 1883. Thus our commercial law combined the principles and provisions of two legal systems - German and Roman, which arguably led to imperfections in the law – a strong contradiction between the principles and spirit of our private and commercial law.

The Bulgarian Commercial Act (CA) entered into force on 1 January, 1898 repealing the hitherto Turkish law of commerce (Commercial Act of 1850 and the Commercial Procedure Act 1862). It arranged in detail all institutions of the commercial law, in accordance with the socio-economic needs in the country.

Bulgarian commercial law is founded on the following principles:

• enhanced responsibility of the trader — unlimited joint and several liability.
• the principle of redress (no commercial transaction is gratuitous. The commercial capital always bears interest, it is at the same maximum rate even if otherwise agreed upon beforehand) is dominant in commercial law and follows the Roman maxim the money of the merchant is worth more than that of the non-merchant (Plus valet pecunia mercatoris, quam non mercatoris).
• simplified formalities governing the conclusion transactions.

The General section of the Commercial Act regulates in detail the types of companies (general partnerships, limited partnerships and joint stock companies) as well as mergers.

The general partnership is formed by two or more persons bound by a commercial purpose under a single partnership and unlimited joint and several liability. This responsibility usually means a small number of partners, who are normally relatives or persons who have each other’s full confidence. Legal relationship between the members of a general partnership are determined by a partnership agreement, and in absence of such agreement - the provisions of the CA. When no particular person has been specified to manage and sign the papers of the partnership it is assumed that all members have equal rights and obligations.

The limited partnership is formed for a commercial purpose, but here one or several of its members have unlimited joint and several responsibility, and one or more of the partners are liable only up to the pre-determined amount that they invested. If only one member has unlimited liability, after his death the company is terminated by law.

The joint stock company is a group of persons bound for a commercial purpose to be fulfilled with capital that has been distributed in advance in equal-sized parts (shares). Partner is any person who has at least one share. The shareholders are liable up to the amount of shares owned, not fully or severally. The number of members of the joint stock company is undefined and can therefore vary, depending on whether the shares are concentrated in more or fewer persons. The maximum number of members is equal to the number of shares (one shareholder holds one share). Joint stock companies enable collection of significant capital exceeding the usual means of general and limited partnerships.

In determining the various commercial transactions, the legislator adopted an exhaustive list:

The Special section of the Commercial Act regulates the types of commercial transactions. As commercial are treated all transactions referred to in Art. 279 of the CA:

• purchasing goods or other movable property for the purpose of reselling them in their original, processed or finished form;
• manufacturing goods for sale;
• purchasing or otherwise acquiring securities and shares;
• insurances;
• transport of passengers or freight by sea;
• bills of exchange, promissory notes and others.

Secondly, the following transactions are regarded as commercial activities, provided that they are carried out by trade (Art. 280 CA):

• development or processing of movable property at the expense of third parties;
• banking and foreign-exchange transactions;
• commissions, shipping and transport transactions;
• public warehouse transactions;
• publishing activities and others.

The Commercial Act also attaches great importance to insolvency (universally enforced on the entire property of the debtor), borrowed from Romanian commercial law.

Under the CA, insolvent is any trader who has stopped their payments. Insolvency is declared by court order at the request of the insolvent trader, at the request of one or more of their creditors, or ex officio. With the order that declares the trader insolvent the court appoints one of its members as a clerk, as well as a temporary liquidator. The definitive appointment of a liquidator is performed by creditors. In addition, the property of the trader is sealed and a deadline is set for the creditors to file their claims. Criminal proceedings against the trader are initiated alongside the insolvency proceedings for a crime committed under Criminal Code, Chapter "Bankruptcy and damage to creditors." The two proceedings are independent from one another. After completion of the procedure, provided for in detail in the CA, the property of the insolvent trader is auctioned and the resulting amount is used to satisfy the claims of the creditors.

VIII. Bulgarian property law

Property law governs the property relations of citizens regarding their direct domination over property. Property law in Bulgaria is governed by the Law on assets, property and servitudes (LAPS), in force since 1904, which is loosely based on the provisions of the Roman legal system. The legislator yet again included the relevant texts of the Italian Civil Code. The Act complies with the folk customs, the jurisprudence of the courts and a set of special laws on individual issues that were adopted at different times prior to the Act. With its entry into force were repealed the final provisions of Turkish legislation in the field of property law. Matters relating to possession and protection of property is taken from the Spanish Civil Code of 1889. Also used are the French Civil Code, the German Civil Law (BGB) and others.

The Law on assets, property and servitudes governs the classification of property, general orders for property, ownership of water, co-ownership, property acquisition, accretions; limitations on ownership; servitudes and possession.

Following the Roman legal system, the legislature adopted its classification of property and thus property is divided into movable and immovable.

The nature of immovable property is such by its purpose or by the object to which it refers.

The law classifies property also in view of the persons to whom it belongs — the state, regions, municipalities, natural and legal persons.

The distinction between movable and immovable property is important for the following reasons:

• immovable property may be mortgaged, and movable - pledged;
• there is a different limitation period of respectively property and contractual claims;
• alienation of immovable property is subject to formal requirements (the transfer of ownership is carried out by written contract or deed; alienation of movable property is not subject to such formal requirements);
• claims in disputes which concern immovable property are proceeded by location of the property, whereas the claims which concern movable property are proceeded by the defendant’s domicile.

With the adoption of LAPS, in Bulgaria was established a property ownership carrying with it a set of rights - possession, use, usufruct and disposal. Property rights are inviolable and their alienation for state or public needs is only possible after making a fair and advance payment.

Servitudes are property rights over someone else’s property. By means of servitude, the property of one person serves another person or at another specified property. Similar to its original source, the Bulgarian LAPS recognises both personal and land servitudes. Personal servitudes are those established over a particular property in favor of a particular person. Servitude that entitles a person to benefit from another person's property as if he was the owner is called usufruct.

Land servitudes are those that are established over one tenement in favor of another. Here one is called the servient tenement and the one that is entitled to the servitude is called the dominant tenement.

The creation of our civil laws required the development of a statute of limitations, which is important for the acquisition and loss of rights. Existing legal inadequacy and the need for consistency between individual civil laws required the adoption of a special law. Before the entry into force of the Limitations Act (LA) in 1898, created on the basis of the Italian Civil Code, the limitation period was determined by the provisions of the Turkish Civil Code, the Land Act and the Turkish Commercial Code. The provisions of Turkish laws did not correspond to the development of legal science and to a large extent were not consistent with the national legal identity and legal traditions.

The LA governs the acquisition and prescription limitation which is different for contractual and proprietary claims respectively. Based on the French Civil Code, the legislator established a longer period for the acquisition of immovable property by prescription, without a good faith and sufficient legal grounds. This is done to ensure legal certainty when the actual owners of the property have been negligent and allowed others to seize their property. In the absence of good faith and sufficient legal grounds, prescription limitation is 20 years.

The limitation period of property claims is 15 or 20 years, depending on good or bad faith and the existence of sufficient legal grounds.

IX. Bulgaria and the law of the European Union

On 13 April 2005 the European Parliament approved the signing of the accession treaties of Bulgaria and Romania, and on January 1, 2007 Bulgaria officially joined the European Union. As a full member of the European Union, Bulgaria has largely aligned its legislation with European law. The EU legal system governs the relations between the EU Member States and between the legal entities of their domestic law that are in turn also entities of the EU. The acts adopted by the EU institutions (or the so called secondary legislation) indicate the addressees thereunder – Member States or directly their physical and legal entities. Different acts have different binding force. Regulations, directives and decisions are binding on the addressees, while recommendations and opinions are not. Regulations are binding both at EU and national level and must be universally implemented across all EU Member States. Directives are binding only as to the result to be achieved thereunder, so that Member States themselves can choose what measures they will implement to achieve that result. Decisions have an immediate effect and can be addressed to both countries and to their citizens and legal entities. Recommendations and opinions have no binding force but have more political clout.

With its EU membership, each Member State has transferred part of its sovereignty, thus determining the primacy of EU law over the national laws of Member States.

EU law norms have direct effect - a principle that has been developed and formulated by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The legal norm under the Community legal order that has direct effect immediately and directly provides natural and legal persons a set of subjective rights that must be recognised and protected by national courts. This fundamental principle ensures the uniformity of Community law and the strict adherence thereto at national level. The direct effect of regulations is widely recognised.

The Directive requires the issuance of a subsequent act for its implementation by the Member State. The directive binds the Member States only as to the result to be achieved by it. They are free to choose the measures to implement it. According to the CJEU, it would directly apply to citizens only upon possible failure by the State government to implement it.

The decision addressed to a natural or legal person from a Member State has direct effect. When the decision is addressed to the Member State, the direct effect is mediated by an intra-state to its application.