Bulgaria
Bulgaria in Europe
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Historical Legal Issues
Government
Bulgaria is a constitutional monarchy; by Art. iii. of the Berlin Treaty it was declared hereditary in the family of a prince "freely elected by the population and confirmed by the Sublime Porte with the assent of the powers." According to the constitution of Trnovo, voted by the Assembly of Notables on the 29th of April 1879, revised by the Grand Sobranye on the 27th of May 1893, and modified by the proclamation of a Bulgarian kingdom on the 5th of October 1908, the royal dignity descends in the direct male line. The king must profess the Orthodox faith, only the first elected sovereign and his immediate heir being released from this obligation. The legislative power is vested in the king in conjunction with the national assembly; he is supreme head of the army, supervises the executive power, and represents the country in its foreign relations. In case of a minority or an interregnum, a regency of three persons is appointed. The national representation is embodied in the Sobranye, or ordinary assembly (Bulgarian, Sŭbranïe, the Russian form Sobranye being usually employed by foreign writers), and the Grand Sobranye, which is convoked in extraordinary circumstances. The Sobranye is elected by manhood suffrage, in the proportion of 1 to 20,000 of the population, for a term of five years. Every Bulgarian citizen who can read and write and has completed his thirtieth year is eligible as a deputy. Annual sessions are held from the 27th of October to the 27th of December. All legislative and financial measures must first be discussed and voted by the Sobranye and then sanctioned and promulgated by the king. The government is responsible to the Sobranye, and the ministers, whether deputies or not, attend its sittings. The Grand Sobranye, which is elected in the proportion of 2 to every 20,000 inhabitants, is convoked to elect a new king, to appoint a regency, to sanction a change in the constitution, or to ratify an alteration in the boundaries of the kingdom. The executive is entrusted to a cabinet of eight members—the ministers of foreign affairs and religion, finance, justice, public works, the interior, commerce and agriculture, education and war. Local administration, which is organized on the Belgian model, is under the control of the minister of the interior. The country is divided into twenty-two departments (okrŭg, pl. okrŭzi), each administered by a prefect (uprávitel), assisted by a departmental council, and eighty-four sub-prefectures (okolía), each under a sub-prefect (okoliiski natchálnik). The number of these functionaries is excessive. The four principal towns have each in addition a prefect of police (gradonatchalnik) and one or more commissaries (pristav). The gendarmery numbers about 4000 men, or 1 to 825 of the inhabitants. The prefects and sub-prefects have replaced the Turkish mutessarifs and kaimakams; but the system of municipal government, left untouched by the Turks, descends from primitive times. Every commune (obshtina), urban or rural, has its kmet, or mayor, and council; the commune is bound to maintain its primary schools, a public library or reading-room, &c.; the kmet possesses certain magisterial powers, and in the rural districts he collects the taxes. Each village, as a rule, forms a separate commune, but occasionally two or more villages are grouped together.
Justice
The civil and penal codes are, for the most part, based on the Ottoman law. While the principality formed a portion of the Turkish empire, the privileges of the capitulations were guaranteed to foreign subjects (Berlin Treaty, Art. viii.). The lowest civil and criminal court is that of the village kmet, whose jurisdiction is confined to the limits of the commune; no corresponding tribunal exists in the towns. Each sub-prefecture and town has a justice of the peace—in some cases two or more; the number of these officials is 130. Next follows the departmental tribunal or court of first instance, which is competent to pronounce sentences of death, penal servitude and deprivation of civil rights; in specified criminal cases the judges are aided by three assessors chosen by lot from an annually prepared panel of forty-eight persons. Three courts of appeal sit respectively at Sofia, Rustchuk and Philippopolis. The highest tribunal is the court of cassation, sitting at Sofia, and composed of a president, two vice-presidents and nine judges. There is also a high court of audit (vrkhovna smetna palata), similar to the French cour des comptes. The judges are poorly paid and are removable by the government. In regard to questions of marriage, divorce and inheritance the Greek, Mahommedan and Jewish communities enjoy their own spiritual jurisdiction. Source: Publication Britannica (1911)
Description of Bulgaria
The Concise Publication of the European Union describes bulgaria in the following terms: [1] Impoverished, ridden by hyperinflation and unreconstructed, Bulgaria was ruined after World War II by the communist dictator Todor Zhivkov and failed to take advantage of his dismissal in 1989. A succession of weak governments was followed by a reformist administration in 1997, but positive results are yet to show and the country's initial application for membership of the EU failed on all counts to win the recommendation of the Commission. After the 1999 Kosovo crisis, however, the mood changed. Britain and France wanted to reward Bulgaria for its steadfastness during the war, and, although membership remained a distant prospect, the new EU policy was to bolster stability in the region by considering ten Central European countries, including Bulgaria, as bona fide candidates.
Literature Review on Bulgaria
In the Publication of Public Administration and Public Policy, [1] Boyka M. Stefanova offers the following summary about the topic of Bulgaria: This entry examines the principal features of Bulgaria's public administration from a combined structural and process-based perspective, with a view to providing a better understanding of the interactions among legal structures, public service and administrative culture, and the system of policy making. The main objective is to move beyond an empirical investigation of the case toward providing insight into the broader context of European governance and the societal framework within which it is embedded.
The Bulgarian public sector has undergone major changes since 1989. The macropolitical context of its evolution is shaped by trends common to most postindustrial systems, the postcommunist transition and Euro-Atlantic integration of Eastern Europe, and the globalization of information and communication technologies in the delivery of public services. All these factors determine a transformational mode for Bulgaria's public administration, implemented as a process of public administration reform. Analysis traces the legal framework, key actors, and principal dimensions of policy making in the context of Bulgaria's membership in the European Union (EU). It finds that public administration operates in a volatile domestic political environment. Policy outcomes are characterized by high variation in economic indicators, large socioeconomic disparities, inadequate budget performance and revenue collection, and a growing need to increase public debt. Collectively, the socio-demographic and legitimacy challenges to the system of public administration require continued structural reform in the regulatory environment, infrastructure, and sectoral policies. The established modalities of Bulgarian policy making suggest that policy reform will remain highly dependent on interaction with and support from the EU institutions.
Resources
Notes and References
Entry about Bulgaria in the Publication of Public Administration and Public Policy (2015, Routledge, Oxford, United Kingdom)
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See Also
Further Reading
Global Publication of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance (2018, Springer International Publishing, Germany)
Resources
Notas y References
Based on the book "A Concise Publication of the European Union from Aachen to Zollverein", by Rodney Leach (Profile Books; London)
Professional Content and Learning Tools
☑️ Lawi offers educational solutions and professional insight, integrating content, tools, and practical technology to promote lifelong learning, personal and professional improvement, and human progress through knowledge. Our collections feature resources and solutions from a wide range of subject areas, from management and finance to law and cybersecurity. This text is only a brief introduction. If you would like us to expand on this content, please let us know in the comments. If you’re finding our platform and publications valuable, share it with a colleague or friend, leave a comment and consider subscribing if you haven’t already (thanks!). There are group discounts, gift options, and referral bonuses available.
See Also
Resources
Professional Content and Learning Tools
☑️ Lawi offers educational solutions and professional insight, integrating content, tools, and practical technology to promote lifelong learning, personal and professional improvement, and human progress through knowledge. Our collections feature resources and solutions from a wide range of subject areas, from management and finance to law and cybersecurity. This text is only a brief introduction. If you would like us to expand on this content, please let us know in the comments. If you’re finding our platform and publications valuable, share it with a colleague or friend, leave a comment and consider subscribing if you haven’t already (thanks!). There are group discounts, gift options, and referral bonuses available.