Bulgarian Bar Exam flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Legal capacity (правоспособност)

Capacity to have rights and obligations, arising at birth and ending at death; it is equal for all natural persons and cannot be waived or restricted by private agreement.

Prescriptive acquisition period

Ten years for immovable property and five years for movables, provided the possessor acts in good faith and as owner; the period may be interrupted by acknowledgment or by a claim.

Res judicata

Binding effect of a final judgment on the parties and their successors regarding the operative part, barring a repeat claim on the same subject, parties, and ground.

Nullity versus voidability

A null act produces no effects ex lege and may be declared by any interested party at any time; a voidable act stands until annulled by action within five years.

Criminal attempt

Beginning the execution of an intentional crime that is not completed for reasons beyond the perpetrator's control; punishable only for intentional crimes, with voluntary abandonment excluding liability.

Pre-trial detention

Coercive measure ordered by a court on reasonable suspicion of a crime punishable by imprisonment, where risks of absconding, reoffending, or obstructing justice exist.

Statutory limitation of prosecution

Time after which criminal prosecution is barred, scaled to the penalty: twenty years for the gravest crimes, fifteen for three to ten years, ten for lesser offences.

Complicity

Joint commission of an intentional crime by a perpetrator, instigator, or aider; personal circumstances excluding liability affect only the person concerned, not other accomplices.

Individual administrative act

Unilateral authoritative declaration by an administrative body creating, modifying, or extinguishing rights or obligations, requiring grounds, operative part, and appeal instructions.

Administrative appeal period

Fourteen days from notification of an individual administrative act, during which the addressee may appeal to the higher authority or the administrative court for legality review.

Grounds for annulment

Lack of competence, material procedural breach, substantial violation of the law, and non-conformity with the aim of the law are grounds for judicial annulment of an administrative act.

Silence of administration

Failure to decide within the statutory period is treated as refusal and is appealable, unless a special statute provides that silence constitutes deemed approval.

Constitutional Court referral

Constitutional review may be initiated by one-fifth of the National Assembly, the President, the Council of Ministers, the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Supreme Administrative Court, or the Prosecutor General.

Judicial independence

Judges exercise judicial power in the name of the people, are irremovable, subject only to the law, and may not hold political party membership or other incompatible office.

Supreme Judicial Council

Body organizing the judiciary, appointing, promoting, and dismissing judges and prosecutors, and exercising disciplinary power; its acts are subject to judicial review.

Restriction of rights

Fundamental rights may be restricted only by law, for a legitimate aim, and proportionally; the essence of the right may not be affected by the restriction.

Limited liability company

Company with capital of at least 2 BGN, whose members are liable only up to their contributions; organs are the general meeting, manager, and controlling body.

Merchant status

A natural or legal person performing commercial transactions by occupation; registration in the Commercial Register is constitutive for companies and declaratory for sole traders.

Commercial transaction

Transaction listed in the Commerce Act, such as purchase of goods for resale, leasing, banking, insurance, or carriage, treated as commercial regardless of the parties' status.

Insolvency opening

Proceedings opened when the debtor is unable to pay due debts; the court appoints a trustee, and a rehabilitation plan may be proposed within the statutory period.

Penalty clause

Contractual sum due on breach without proof of damage; the court may reduce an excessive penalty, and damages may be claimed only for the excess over the penalty.

Assignment of claims

Transfer of a claim to a new creditor, effective against the debtor upon notice; the debtor may raise defences existing at the time of notice against the assignee.

Limitation periods

Five years for contractual claims and three years for tort claims; running is interrupted by acknowledgment of the debt or by filing a claim in court.

Unjust enrichment

Acquisition of property without legal ground, obliging restitution of the thing, fruits, and interest to the deprived party, unless a valid but later failed cause existed.

Community property

Property acquired during marriage by either spouse, shared equally unless separate; separate property includes premarital assets, gifts, and inheritance, and division occurs by agreement or court.

Intestate succession order

First children and spouse, then parents and siblings, then grandparents; the surviving spouse takes a statutory share alongside children and receives household effects.

Reserved portion

Statutory share of the estate due to forced heirs, including children, spouse, and parents, which reduces testamentary dispositions exceeding it.

Adoption requirements

Consent of parents or a competent authority, a statutory minimum age difference, and court approval; adoption creates a legal parent-child relationship with effects on succession.

Probation period

Period at the start of employment, not exceeding six months, during which either party may terminate with statutory notice and without stating reasons.

Annual paid leave

At least twenty working days per year, accruing with length of service, usable in parts with the employer's consent and compensated financially if unused on termination.

Severance pay

Payment due on dismissal for specified grounds such as redundancy or closure, calculated under the Labor Code according to the employee's length of service.

Attorney-client confidentiality

Duty to keep all information entrusted by the client secret, unlimited in time, disclosable only to prevent a future crime or with the client's informed consent.

Conflict of interest

Bar on representing opposing parties in the same or related matters, and on acting where the attorney previously advised the opposing party in the matter.