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Liability of the State
Am I entitled to compensation as a result of the activity of the State?
The basis of this right is laid down in Article 7 of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, which states that “The State shall be liable for damages caused by unlawful acts or actions of its bodies and officials”, while the regulation is further developed in the special State and Municipal Liability for Damages Act (“SMLDA”).ZODOV“).
Citizens and legal entities in the Republic of Bulgaria have the right to claim compensation from the State for damages caused to them by actions and omissions of its bodies, as well as as a result of the adoption of unlawful acts in the performance of administrative activity.
The SMLDA is the special law that further develops this constitutional principle and regulates the procedure under which the liability of the State is engaged for the activity of the administration and law-enforcement bodies, as well as the bodies of the judiciary.
For cases not regulated in the State and Municipal Liability for Damages Act, the liability of the State is pursued under the general civil procedure on the basis of the rules of Articles 45-54 of the Obligations and Contracts Act.
District Court - Shumen
Workplace accident cases
20 CASES
Filed during the period 2016 – 2018
BGN 25,256
Average amount of compensation for 2019
≈ 8 months
Average duration during the period 2016 – 2018
District Court - Pleven
Workplace accident cases
5 CASES
Filed during the period 2016 – 2018
BGN 67,455
Average amount of compensation for 2019
≈ 8 months
Average duration during the period 2016 – 2018
This type of liability may be sought in cases where:
- A citizen or legal entity has suffered damages from an unlawful act of a state body, its actions, or omissions;
- Citizens have suffered damages while held in custody, including as a coercive measure or house arrest, where the same have been revoked, as well as in all cases where a person has been deprived of liberty in violation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
- A citizen has been accused of committing a crime and was subsequently acquitted, or the criminal proceedings were terminated due to limitation periods, as well as in cases where a citizen was accused but the criminal proceedings were terminated because the person did not commit the respective crime.
A citizen may also seek compensation for all damages suffered as a result of the application by the court of an administrative measure, if the damages are a direct and immediate consequence of that act. This is possible when the decision is revoked as unlawful, when a sentence has been executed beyond the imposed term or amount, or in case of unlawful use of special surveillance means.
It should be noted that the liability of the State and its bodies may be engaged only in cases where the following sequence of actions exists:
- An unlawful act or action of a state body or official has been issued or carried out, established according to the proper legal procedure.
- The person has suffered damages that they can prove.
- There is a causal link between the act of the State and the damages suffered.
A mandatory prerequisite for claiming compensation is that the unlawful act of the state body must be revoked and declared unlawful in the proper legal manner.
What is the type of liability? Must fault be proven?
The liability of the State in the above-described cases is strict liability (liability without fault). This is also the main difference from the general regulation of tort liability, where the existence of culpable conduct is a mandatory prerequisite.
In this sense, the State is liable for damages caused by its bodies even in cases where they were not aware of the factual circumstances or were performing their official duties on the basis of an unlawful order (Article 4 of the SMLDA).
Damage is any infringement of rights or lawful interests of a given person, and damages may be pecuniary or non-pecuniary. Pecuniary damages are those resulting in specific losses or in the failure of an expected and certain increase in property to occur. Non-pecuniary damages are pain and suffering that do not have a direct material expression for the injured person, but have affected their personal sphere.
Amount of compensation for damages caused by the unlawful activity of the state administration
When can the liability of the State not be engaged?
In cases where the damage occurred exclusively due to the fault of the injured person, the State does not owe compensation. In the hypothesis where the injured person has contributed through their actions to the damage, the compensation may be reduced proportionally to the contribution of the injured person.
