Foundations of Bulgarian law: medieval and Ottoman legal traditions, the Liberation and the Tarnovo Constitution, the socialist period, the Constitution of 1991, the sources and hierarchy of law, the absence of a single civil code, and the place of EU and international law

Medieval and Ottoman periods. The Bulgarian state was founded in 681, and its law combined Slavic custom, Byzantine influence and church rules. A famous early text is the Law for Judging People (Zakon sudnyi lyudem) of the ninth century. After the Ottoman conquest at the end of the fourteenth century, Bulgarian lands were governed by Ottoman law, while Christian communities kept church courts and community self-government for family and religious matters.

Liberation and the Tarnovo Constitution. After the Russo-Turkish war, Bulgaria was liberated in 1878, and the Tarnovo Constitution of 1879 created a modern constitutional monarchy with civil rights and an elected assembly, modelled on European constitutions, especially the Belgian. Independence was declared in 1908. The new state adopted codes and statutes based on continental European models (French, Belgian, Italian and German).

Socialism and the return to democracy. After 1944, Bulgaria became a republic with constitutions of 1947 and 1971 under one-party rule, and the economy and property were nationalised. After 1989, democratic changes led to the Constitution of 1991, which establishes a republic with a parliamentary form of government, separation of powers, political pluralism, private property and protection of rights. Accession to the European Union in 2007 added a new layer of law.

The hierarchy. The Constitution is directly applicable and has the highest force. International treaties that have been ratified, promulgated and have entered into force are part of domestic law and take precedence over conflicting national provisions (Article 5(4)), and European Union law has primacy and direct effect where it applies. Next come laws adopted by the National Assembly, including the codes, then secondary legislation: regulations, ordinances and decrees of the Council of Ministers and ministers, and municipal acts. All normative acts are published in the State Gazette (Държавен вестник) and take effect three days after publication, unless they say otherwise (Article 5).

Judicial interpretation. Bulgarian judges apply statutes, and precedent is not binding in the common law way. But the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court issue interpretative decisions that bind lower courts and the administration, and the Constitutional Court interprets the Constitution and can strike down laws. Legal scholarship is persuasive, and custom is secondary.

Several statutes, not one code. Bulgarian private law is not collected in a single civil code. It is found in separate statutes: the Law on Obligations and Contracts (contracts, torts and unjust enrichment), the Property Act, the Family Code, the Inheritance Act and the Commercial Act, with procedural codes (the Civil Procedure Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Administrative Procedure Code) and special laws. A reader must therefore look at several statutes together to answer one question.

The rule of law and EU law. Article 4 declares Bulgaria a state governed by the rule of law, with legality, legal certainty and protection of rights. European Union membership means that regulations apply directly (for example on data protection), directives must be transposed into Bulgarian law, and courts must interpret national law in line with EU law and may ask the Court of Justice of the EU questions. The European Convention on Human Rights also binds Bulgaria.

• Check the date. Bulgarian statutes are amended often, so the consolidated text must be checked, in the State Gazette or a legal database.
• Check the level. Ask whether the answer comes from the Constitution, EU law, a law, a regulation or a municipal act.
• Check the language. Official texts and court proceedings are in Bulgarian, so a sworn translation is usually needed for foreign documents.