Online defamation and insult in Bulgaria: how to sue and which court

Iva Petkova, attorney · Published 29 October 2026 · 12 min

If you have been insulted or defamed on Facebook, on a website or by an online media outlet in Bulgaria, you can file a private criminal complaint or bring a damages claim. Either way, the case can usually be heard in the town where you live, not only at the author’s address. For damages claims, the Supreme Court of Cassation confirmed this again in a ruling of 27 October 2026. We explain the difference between insult and defamation, which route to choose, the time limits and how to prepare the case so that it is not sent to another town.

How we can help

On 27 October 2026 the Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) confirmed again that a damages claim over defamation on the internet can be heard in the victim’s town. By Ruling No 5163 in case No 4382/2026, Fourth Civil Division, the SCC set aside a ruling of the Burgas Regional Court, which had sent a case over an article in an online media outlet to the Sofia District Court on the ground that the outlet’s registered office was decisive and that office is abroad. The case will be heard by the Burgas District Court, where the claimant lives. Below we set out the whole picture: what counts as insult and as defamation, when to file a criminal complaint and when a damages claim, at which court and within what time.

What is the difference between insult and defamation

Insult is saying or doing something degrading to another person’s honour or dignity in their presence (Art. 146(1) of the Criminal Code). Defamation is disclosing a disgraceful fact about another person or attributing a crime to them (Art. 147(1)). Insult is usually an offensive judgment or epithet, while defamation is a statement of a specific fact. That is why the author of defamation is not punished if they prove that what they disclosed is true (Art. 147(2)).

The penalties are fines and public reprimand, with no imprisonment:

• insult: a fine of BGN 500 to 3,000 (EUR 255.65 to 1,533.88), and the court may also impose public reprimand (Art. 146(1));
• defamation: a fine of BGN 1,000 to 7,000 (EUR 511.29 to 3,579.04) and public reprimand (Art. 147(1));
• insult made in public or spread through the mass media or by other means: a fine of BGN 500 to 10,000 (EUR 255.65 to 5,112.92) and public reprimand (Art. 148(1));
• defamation in the same circumstances, or defamation with grave consequences: a fine of BGN 1,000 to 15,000 (EUR 511.29 to 7,669.38) and public reprimand (Art. 148(2)).

Complaints over posts on social networks and websites are usually brought under Art. 148 of the Criminal Code, because the publication was spread publicly or by other means.

Criminal complaint or damages claim: which route to choose

Insult and defamation are not prosecuted by the public prosecutor. Criminal proceedings start only on a complaint by the victim (Art. 161(1) of the Criminal Code), which must be filed within six months of the day the victim learned of the offence (Art. 81(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code). The complaint can lead to a penalty for the author. You obtain compensation in those proceedings only if you also bring a civil claim in the criminal case, preferably together with the complaint (Arts 84(1) and 85 of the Criminal Procedure Code). The court fee for such a claim is 4% of the amount awarded, with a minimum of EUR 25.56 (Art. 2 of the Tariff of court fees under the CPC).

A separate damages claim before a civil court (Art. 45 OCA) can be brought within five years after the author is identified (Arts 110 and 114(3) OCA). The court fee is 4% of the value of the claim, with a minimum of EUR 25.56, payable when the claim is filed (Art. 1 of the Tariff). The court sets compensation for non-pecuniary damage on the basis of fairness (Art. 52 OCA), and statutory interest runs from the day of the harm without any demand (Art. 84(3) OCA). If you have already brought a claim under the CPC, you cannot bring it again in the criminal case (Art. 84(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code).

If your main aim is compensation, the civil claim gives you more time and lets you choose the court. If you also want the author punished, the complaint must be filed within the six-month time limit.

Which court hears the damages claim

As a general rule, a claim is filed at the court for the area of the defendant’s permanent address or registered office (Art. 105 CPC). For a damages claim in tort, the claimant may instead choose the court for the place where the act was committed (Art. 115(1) CPC). The choice belongs to the claimant. Changes in the facts after the claim is filed, such as the defendant moving, are no ground for sending the case to another court (Art. 120 CPC).

The law does not define the place where the act is committed, so the SCC interprets it according to the type of tort. Defamation is committed when the defamatory allegation is disclosed, that is, when the statement is perceived by someone other than the author and the victim. If the defamation was spoken in front of others at a particular place, the competent court is the one for that place, and the place where the victim learned of it does not matter.

An online publication cannot be tied to a single geographical place, because anyone with internet access can see it. The only reliable link to a particular place is therefore where the damage occurs. That is usually where the victim lives, the place where they perceived the publication, and it is the place where the act is committed for the purposes of Art. 115(1) CPC. The SCC framed the rule generally for statements or information spread on the internet (Ruling No 165 of 25.07.2022 in case No 2476/2022, First Civil Division). It applies both to the claim against the author of the publication (Art. 45 OCA) and to the claim against the person who engaged the author for the work in the course of which the publication was made (Art. 49 OCA), such as the author’s employer.

The SCC relies on the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union: the judgment of 25 October 2011 in Joined Cases C-509/09 and C-161/10 (eDate Advertising and Martinez) and the judgment of 17 October 2017 in Case C-194/16 (Bolagsupplysningen and Ilsjan). Under those judgments, a person harmed by an online publication may seek compensation for all the damage before the courts for their centre of interests.

The case law has been consistent since 2022, and in Ruling No 4651 of 30.09.2026 in case No 3538/2026, Fourth Civil Division, the SCC expressly called it settled. The key rulings:

• Ruling No 165 of 25.07.2022 in case No 2476/2022, First Civil Division: a claim over internet posts stays at the Sofia City Court chosen by the victim, despite the defendant’s objection that it should be heard by the Plovdiv Regional Court at her address;
• Ruling No 50216 of 29.09.2022 in case No 2972/2022, First Civil Division: for videos posted on YouTube and Facebook, the place where they were recorded does not matter, and the Kozloduy District Court, where the claimant lives, has jurisdiction (some later rulings write the number as 502016);
• Ruling No 4882 of 13.10.2026 in case No 2999/2026, Third Civil Division: for an interview given by phone to a radio programme and posted with a recording on the station’s website, the Veliko Tarnovo District Court, where the claimant lives, has jurisdiction, not the court for the place from which the defendant spoke;
• Ruling No 5163 of 27.10.2026 in case No 4382/2026, Fourth Civil Division: the rule also applies to an article in an online media outlet, wherever the outlet has its registered office.

Which court hears the criminal complaint

A criminal case is heard by the court for the area where the offence was committed (Art. 36(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code). For an online publication, the place where it was spread cannot be established, so the SCC assigns the case to the court for the victim’s centre of interests, that is, where their good name and standing in society are affected. That is usually where the victim lives. Disputes between courts over which of them should hear a complaint are decided by the SCC (Art. 44(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code):

• Ruling No 409 of 20.09.2023 in case No 805/2023, First Criminal Division: for insult and defamation in comments in a village Facebook group, the case belongs to the Yambol District Court, in whose area the complainant lives, not to the court for the defendant’s address;
• Ruling No 357 of 31.07.2023 in case No 661/2023, Third Criminal Division: the complainant had moved abroad, but her centre of interests remained in the town where she had lived, so the case belongs to the Haskovo District Court; the SCC applies the same rule to insult;
• Ruling No 227 of 23.04.2026 in case No 362/2026, Third Criminal Division: for defamation in emails to specific recipients, the information was not publicly accessible, so the offence was committed where the recipients opened the emails, and the case belongs to the Pomorie District Court.

When you cannot sue in your own town

What matters is how the defendant disclosed the allegation, not how the victim came to learn of it. In the case decided by Ruling No 1758 of 03.04.2026 in case No 1202/2026, Fourth Civil Division, the claimant alleged that the defendant had defamed him in front of a parliamentary group meeting in the National Assembly building, and he had learned of the words from an internet TV channel. It was not alleged that the defendant had put his words online, so the act was committed at the meeting in Sofia and the case was sent to the Sofia District Court. The appellate court also noted that the defendant was the author of the words, not the media outlet that broadcast them. For the same reason, with emails to specific people the decisive place is where they opened them (Ruling No 227/2026, Third Criminal Division, above).

What happens if the defendant objects to the court

In a civil case the court does not raise this kind of jurisdiction of its own motion. Only the defendant can object that the case is not within the jurisdiction of the court chosen by the claimant, and at the latest within the one-month time limit for the defence (Arts 119(4) and 131(1) CPC). Court rulings often cite the provision as Art. 119(3) CPC, its number before the 2018 amendment. If the defendant does not object in time, the case stays at the chosen court.

If it upholds the objection, the court terminates the proceedings before it and sends the case to the competent court. The case is treated as pending before that court from the day the claim was filed, and the steps taken until then remain valid (Art. 118(2) CPC). The ruling on jurisdiction can be appealed (Art. 121 CPC), and the appellate court’s ruling can be appealed to the SCC if the grounds for admitting a cassation appeal are met (Arts 274(3) and 280 CPC).

A dispute over jurisdiction can delay the case by months. In the case decided by Ruling No 5163/2026, the Burgas District Court ruled on the objection in April 2026, the Burgas Regional Court in August and the SCC on 27 October 2026. Only then can the case go on to the merits.

How to prepare the case

1. Preserve the publication at once, while it is still online: the URL, the date, screenshots, the comments under it and the names of people who saw it. A deleted post is hard to prove, and the damage is usually proved through witnesses.
2. Watch the time limits: six months for a criminal complaint from the day you learned of the publication, and five years for a damages claim from the day the author was identified.
3. State expressly where you live and where you were when you saw the publication. In the case decided by Ruling No 4651 of 30.09.2026 in case No 3538/2026, Fourth Civil Division, the claimant had not said where he was when he learned of a Facebook video, and the case was sent from the Sofia District Court to the Velingrad District Court at the defendant’s address.
4. Decide whom to sue. The claim can be brought against the author of the publication (Art. 45 OCA), against the person who engaged the author for the work (Art. 49 OCA), or against both. Where the defendants live in different court districts, the claim can be filed at the court of any one of those districts (Art. 116 CPC).
5. Choose the district or regional court according to the value of the claim: above BGN 25,000 (EUR 12,782.30) the regional court sits at first instance (Art. 104(4) CPC), and below that the district court does.
6. If you are the defendant in a civil case and believe it was filed at the wrong court, raise the objection in your defence. Once the time limit for the defence has expired, it can no longer be raised.

If the dispute is cross-border

Where the defendant lives in another EU Member State, international jurisdiction over the damages claim is governed by Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012. Besides the courts of the Member State where the defendant is domiciled (Art. 4), a tort claim can be brought before the courts for the place where the harmful event occurred or may occur (Art. 7(2)). Under the CJEU judgments mentioned above, a person harmed by an online publication can claim compensation for all the damage before the courts of the Member State where their centre of interests lies. For a company, that is where it carries out the main part of its economic activity. A request for rectification and removal of the publication must be brought before a court with jurisdiction over all the damage (the judgment in Case C-194/16).

We act for people insulted or defamed online and in the media, both in criminal complaints and in damages claims, and for defendants in such cases, including where the case was brought over public participation and early dismissal of the claim can be sought under the new anti-SLAPP rules. Our office is next to the Palace of Justice in Sofia.

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