THE BULGARIAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A002000550008-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 14, 2009
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: September 10, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This Document contains information affecting; the Ns-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
INFORMATION REPORT to or amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
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Bulgaria
SUBJECT The Bulgarian Judicial System
REPORT
DATE DISTR. 10 September 1953
NO. OF PAGES
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
This is UNEVALUATED Information
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
1. Until 9 September 1944, when the 33ulgarian Government was taken over by tie
Communist Party,, the administration of justice in Bulgaria was organized largely
on the French system. In 1940, when the_PGovernment was Fascist, and in 1941
when Bulgaria E rmally decided to collaborate with Germany,' the Nuremberg laws
were introduced, but these were abolished again in 1944. By the end of 1944, all
members of the pro-Nazi-Regency Council, Government, and Parliament had been
arraigned before the People Do Courts, whose composition was defined by a series
of special decrees. The Regency, continued formally until the proclamation of the.
Peoples Republic of Bulgaria in September 19116.
)During 1947 a new constitution was prepared, approved on 5 December 1947. and the
previous legal code was completely overhauled and replaced by new basic laws
formulated in accordance with the principles of the popular republics. At the
present time all laws which existed prior to 1944 have been abolished and replaced
by new one, based on the Soviet pattern.
3. Very effort is made to have the administration of the law approximate the Soviet
pattern. In practice this is not always possible, partly because members of
the legal profession in Bulgaria have received a different training, and partly
because itis not always possible to obtain information on the day-to-day admini-
stration of Soviet law. Both textbooks and protocols of important legal precedents
in the Soviet'Union are extremely difficult to obtain, and, in any event, are not
published in any language but Russian. In addition, the economic system of Bul-
garia has not yet progressed sufficiently in the direction of state socialism for
the Soviet legal system to be fully applicable.
4o The'legal pyramid in Bulgaria consists of District (Okoliya) Courts, now known as
People?s Courts, Circuit Courts (sic), and the Supreme Court in Sofia. All civil
and criminal cases must first come before a People's Court, with the exception
of certain crimes which are specifically listed as having. to come directly before
a:Circuit Court. Generally speaking, it may be said that the former French system
courts (courts of first and second instance), followed by a court
of two ft=LaA+
of appeal as a court of third instance, has now been replaced by a two-court
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system without a formal court of appeal. In fact, the second court acts as a
court of appeal, and, where the appeal is allowed, it returns the case to the
lower court for further consideration. However, in cases where the actual
facts have been fully cleared up by the lower court and there is doubt only as
to the p?aaalty, this will be decided directly by the higher court without re-
turning the case to the court which first tried it, An innovation of interest
is that the higher court may reverse even parts of the decisions of the lower
courts against which no appeal has been made, if these are affected by the re-
vernal of the main judgment,
5.
The supreme authority for the legality of all court decisions is vested. In the
Supreme Court, which not only passes on cases reaching it, as court of second
instance, from the Circuit Courts, but also is authorized to reverse or return
to a lower court any decisions made at any level, as well as to reverse Judgm
meats which have already been given, Applications for such reversals may be
originated either by the. State Attorney of the Republic or by the Presideat of
the Supreme Court, and must be heard by the Supreme Court Itself. This pro-
oedure amounts in fact to a court of third. instance, and does not correspond
to the legal system as laid down by the Constitution, It was originally intended
that these appeals would be reserved for very special cases in which serious
.mistakes have been made in the lower courts, but it has proved difficult to pre-
vent the lodging of appeals. As a result, even disputes concerning apartments
havve now reached the Supreme Court by this route, All crimes committet4 bar memm
'bore of the Government in their official capacity and official crimes committed
by judges (both trained and lay judges), state attorneys, and magistrates, go
directly to the Supreme Court.
The Peopi??s Courts and the Circuit Courts consist of a Civil and a Criminal
Chamber, while .the Supreme Court has three 5collegess? o Civil, Criminal, wad
Military,, The Military Chamber of the Supreme Court functions as a court of
first instance,
In 1952 the following regulations were laid down for the number of judges in
each court g
Popular court as Court of First Instance - one trained judge who acts as
president, and two lay judges-
-Popular Court as Court of Second Instance - one trained judge,
co Circuit Court as Court of First Instance m one trained judge and two lay
Judges,
d4 Circuit Court as Court of Second Instance ? three trained judges,
s, Supreme Court as Court of First Instance three trained judges and four
lay judges.
Supreme Court as Court of Second Instance three trained judges,
.The Bulgarian constitution provides for the division of the country into local
councils, districts, and counties, each of Which is headed by. popular councils
elected for a period of three years, Each popular cuniLl (Na r a ve) elects
executive council to attend to current affairs. Both train and lay members
of the 1uple ? s Courts and the Circuit Courts are elected for five years by the
People?g Councils of the district and county respectively, Reelection is permissible
in both oases? The members of the Supreme Court are elected by the Rational Assembly
QNa~dnc Sua?ae~, also for five years. Sessions of the Supreme Court are usually
attended by three judges, although in special cases all members of the appropriate
college may be convened, It is provided that in certain cases, lay judges, elected
by the National Assembly, shall sit on the Supreme Court,
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Although judges are elected by the appropriate People's Councils, the candidates
are always selected with the approval of the Ministry of Justice and usually on
its initiative,
10. On election, a judge accepts the obligation to give a written account to the organ
which elected his of the manner in which he has carried out his duties. This has
proved difficult in practice, but every effort has been made to permit the assemblies
at the various levels to exercise control over the judges and to maintain close con-
tacts between the courts and the people. It is considered desirable in particular
that judges in the lower courts shall know the popular reactions to their judgments.
Judges are fully aware that their reelection depends on the impression made by their
decisions, There is no doubt that this creates a serious problem for the individual
judge, who may often be afraid of offending an influential member of his constitu-
ency. The official theory, of course, is that no People's Council at arq level
would permit itself to be influenced by the feelings of individual members who
happen to'have lost a case in the courts, provided the judge had otherwise proved
himself a good interpreter of the popular will.
11, A judge can be dismissed only by the council which appointed him, and only after
careful investigation and by permission of the Ministry of Justice, Prior to
his dismissal, the judge must be given an opportunity to defend his position,
12. The new Bulgarian constitution provides that the State Prosecutor is elected for
five years, by the National Assembly, Be is directly responsible only to the
National Assembly and he appoints and dismisses all other prosecutors, including
his deputy, His duties not only include prosecution in criminal cases but also
authorize him to take part in civil suits, either where this is expressly provided
by the law, or at his own discretion. One of his most important duties is to en-
sure that all parts of the government and administration, public institutions,
organizations and enterprises operate in accordance with the law, and in particular
he must prevent administrative actions which are not in accordance with the public
interest. The State Prosecutor makes an annual report to the National Assembly,
Only the Presidium of the National Assembly is permitted to annul or amend a ruling
made by him,
13. It must be kept in mind that while the National Assembly is the supreme authority
according to the Bulgarian consitution, the privileged position of the Communist
Party is always emphasized, and in arCr case, the large majority of the members of
the National Assembly belong to the Communist Party,
14. The majority of the judges and attorneys now working in Bulgaria studied law at
the Legal Department of the University of Sofia. The legal profession became
popular in Bulgaria. between the two World wars, and by 1946 there were about
12,000 attorneys practicing in Sofia, which had, at the time, a population of
about half a million. In 1948, new regulations for the practice of law were
announced, These roughly parallelled those in operation in the Soviet Union.
All attorneys were required to join an attorneys' collective, with a minim= of
15 members to each collective in Sofia.
15, An attorney may now no longer come in direct contact with his clients, this being
the job of the secretary of the lawyers' collective. The secretary distributes
the various cases among the memeers of the collective, and payment is made to the
collective which distributes shares at the end. of the month in accordance with the
amount of work done by each member. But in facto earnings are personal, as most
attorneys have their own personal clientele who may designate the lawyer whom they
wish to have bandlo their cases, Thus, while payment is made to the collective,
it does, in the and, revert to the lawyer who was responsible for bringing the
case to the collective in the first place.
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169 An Attorney's Chamber has' been established in'each county, the members being
elected by the attorneys, in order to supervise the working of the collectives.
17o As.a, result of the nationalization of industry, civil litigation has dropped
off,. and the volume of legal advice required is steadily declining. Increasing
numbers of attorneys join State and public organizations as legal advisers,
but the number of practicing attorneys is still in excess of the demand.
18. Judges as well as attorneys met complete a legal course at the University of
Sofia in order, to be authorized to exercise their profession, and attorneys
must also pass a special state examination and a six months' apprenticeship.
There are no special short-term law courses.
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