Litigation and arbitration

Court instances: district, regional and appellate courts

Civil and commercial cases in Bulgaria may pass through up to three instances. As a rule, the district court sits at first instance, while the regional court does so for claims above a certain value and for some categories of dispute, including actions to set aside resolutions of a company’s general meeting. Judgments of district courts are appealed to the regional courts, and those of regional courts to the courts of appeal. An appeal must be lodged within two weeks of service of the judgment.

The appellate court decides the dispute on the merits, but reviews the correctness of the judgment under appeal only on the grounds raised in the appeal, and admits new evidence only exceptionally. A case is therefore won or lost chiefly at first instance, where the evidence is gathered, the experts are heard and the witnesses are examined.

Before taking any court action, we give the client a written assessment of the legal position, the evidence required, the likely duration and cost, and the risk of an adverse costs order. Each case is handled by one responsible lawyer who knows it from beginning to end. Our office is next to the Palace of Justice in Sofia.

In detail: Being the defendant in a civil case: what it means and what to do if you are sued

Cassation appeals to the Supreme Court of Cassation: grounds under Article 280 CPC

Proceedings before the Supreme Court of Cassation have two stages: the court first decides whether to admit the appeal, and only then reviews whether the appellate judgment is correct. The appeal must be lodged within one month of service of the appellate judgment, together with a statement of the grounds for admission. Under Article 280(1) of the Civil Procedure Code, such a ground exists where the appellate court has ruled on a substantive or procedural question contrary to the case law of the Supreme Court of Cassation, where the question has been decided contrary to acts of the Constitutional Court or the Court of Justice of the European Union, or where it is significant for the correct application of the law and for the development of the law. Irrespective of these conditions, an appeal is admitted where the judgment is probably void or inadmissible, or is manifestly wrong (Art. 280(2) CPC).

The law excludes certain categories of case from cassation review, as well as cases in which the value of the claim does not exceed a threshold that differs for civil and commercial cases. In July 2026 the Constitutional Court declined to declare these restrictions unconstitutional. What decides admission is the precise formulation of the legal question: it must have determined the outcome of the case, rather than express disagreement with how the evidence was assessed. We therefore assess the prospects before the Supreme Court of Cassation while the case is still at the appellate stage.

Commercial disputes: exchange of pleadings and preclusion

Disputes arising from commercial transactions are heard under the special rules of the Civil Procedure Code for commercial disputes. Pleadings are exchanged twice: a statement of claim and a defence, followed by a reply and a rejoinder. Facts and evidence must be set out in these pleadings; later this is allowed only for circumstances that have newly arisen or newly come to light, and a missed opportunity to adduce evidence generally cannot be made up.

Many commercial cases turn on the wording of the contract and the correspondence on its performance. From the outset we therefore ask for the full documentation, including e-mails, minutes and invoices, and draw up a chronology of the parties’ dealings. Where the outcome depends on accounting or technical questions, we frame the expert’s brief so that the report answers precisely those questions. Nikolay Arabadjiev has experience with construction contracts, infrastructure projects and public procurement, a field in which disputes call for a sound grasp of the technical documentation.

Interim measures: garnishment, attachment of property and security

The court grants an interim measure where, without it, enforcing the rights under the future judgment would be impossible or difficult, and the claim is supported by compelling documentary evidence. If such evidence is lacking, the measure may be granted against security in an amount set by the court; the court may also require security in other cases. The application is heard in chambers without notice to the defendant, which preserves the element of surprise.

Where the measure secures a future claim, the court sets a time limit of no more than one month for bringing it, and if proof that the claim has been brought is not lodged in time, the measure is lifted. A garnishment is imposed by an enforcement agent and, on a bank account, takes effect when the bank receives the garnishment notice; an attachment of real estate is imposed by registering the court’s order with the Registry Office and takes effect on registration (Art. 400(2) CPC). Interim relief may also be sought from the state courts in a dispute pending before an arbitral tribunal.

An unjustified measure comes at a price: if the claim is dismissed, the defendant may claim damages for the loss caused by the measures imposed (Art. 403 CPC). We therefore weigh the proportionality of each measure, particularly where it would freeze the working capital of an operating business.

In detail: Freezing a debtor’s assets in Bulgaria: account attachment and property charges

In detail: Protection against SLAPPs: what the new Civil Procedure Code rules provide for claims over public participation

Arbitration: the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, arbitration clauses and enforcement of awards

Arbitration is possible only with the parties’ express agreement and only for pecuniary disputes. Disputes over rights in rem in or possession of real estate, maintenance or employment rights, and disputes in which one of the parties is a consumer, cannot be referred to arbitration (Art. 19 CPC). The permanent arbitral institutions in Bulgaria include the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; the parties may also agree on ad hoc arbitration.

The arbitration clause is negotiated when the contract is signed, while the parties are still minded to agree. It should state the exact name of the institution, the seat and language of the arbitration, the number of arbitrators and the governing law. An unclear clause gives rise to a dispute over jurisdiction, which delays the hearing of the real dispute.

Arbitration has a single instance. An award may be set aside by the Supreme Court of Cassation only on the limited grounds listed in the Arbitration Act, in an action brought within three months of receipt of the award. A writ of execution based on a Bulgarian award is issued by the regional court for the debtor’s permanent address or registered office. Foreign arbitral awards are recognised and declared enforceable by the Sofia City Court under the 1958 New York Convention, without the merits of the dispute being reviewed.

Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments

A judgment given by a court of another EU Member State under Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 is enforced in Bulgaria without any declaration of enforceability. The creditor produces a copy of the judgment and the certificate under Article 53 of the Regulation issued by the court of origin. The debtor may apply for refusal of enforcement only on the grounds in Article 45, for example where enforcement would be manifestly contrary to public policy, or where a default judgment was given without proper service. Bulgarian judgments are enforced in the other Member States in the same way.

Judgments from outside the EU are recognised under the Private International Law Code or an applicable treaty. Recognition may take place directly before the authority to which the judgment is presented, while enforcement requires an action before the Sofia City Court. The court does not review the merits; it checks whether the foreign court had jurisdiction under Bulgarian rules, whether the defendant was duly summoned and whether recognition would be contrary to Bulgarian public policy. Since 1 September 2023 the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention has also applied in relations with its contracting states, which since 1 July 2025 have included the United Kingdom.

In detail: Enforcing foreign judgments in Bulgaria and Bulgarian judgments abroad

Court costs and lawyers’ fees

Under the general rule in Article 78 CPC, the losing party pays the other party’s costs in proportion to the part of the claim upheld or dismissed. Costs include court fees, expert fees and the lawyer’s fee, which is awarded only if it has actually been paid. A party must submit a list of costs no later than the end of the last hearing at the relevant instance; without it, the party loses the right to seek amendment of the judgment as to costs (Art. 80 CPC).

In its judgment of 25 January 2024 in Case C-438/22, the Court of Justice of the European Union held that binding minimum lawyers’ fees under Ordinance No 1 of 9 July 2004 restrict competition within the meaning of Article 101 TFEU and that national courts must refuse to apply them. Since 2025 the Ordinance has contained no minimum amounts and has been entitled ‘on remuneration for legal work’. Following a 2026 amendment, Article 78(5) CPC expressly refers to the criteria in the Bar Act: on an objection that a fee is excessive, the court may reduce the amount awarded in line with the actual legal and factual complexity of the case, but not below the fee the objecting party paid its own lawyer.

Recovering costs after a successful case is therefore less predictable. At the outset we discuss with the client what costs they can realistically expect to be awarded, and we set out our own fee in a written contract.

In detail: Legal costs and lawyers’ fees in Bulgarian courts after the CJEU ruling in Case C-438/22