Bulgaria

Provides a listing of articles on restorative justice developments in Bulgaria. Articles appear in the order in which they were added to the site with the most recent appearing first.

Alternatives for juveniles in Bulgaria

by Lynette Parker Recently I provided restorative conferencing training for Prison Fellowship Bulgaria (PF Bulgaria) and several of its partner agencies. The twenty participants represented different public and non-governmental organisations including the Department for Child Protection, the Anti-bullying Commission of Vratsa, the Cultural Centre of Vratsa, the Probation Department, Caritas- Ruse and PF Bulgaria. They are all part of a new juvenile justice initiative being led by PF Bulgaria and Caritas-Ruse to introduce alternatives for working with at-risk youth. The project, “Active communities in the prevention of the institutionalisation of children and juvenile offenders,” offers several services for young people coming from difficult home situations and for those who have committed crime. It is being implemented in the Bulgarian cities of Vratsa and Ruse.

Chankova, Dobrinka and Emilia Staninska. Bulgaria on the Road to Victim-Offender Mediation

Although in the last decade mediation in all fields (civil, labour, penal matters etc.) has had numerous proponents in academic circles and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and has won recognition in wider society, it only recently began to attract the attention and support of policy makers and members of Parliament, and not without a push from outside. (excerpt) PowerPoint Presentation.

Chankova, Dobrinka.Positioning Mediation in Bulgarian Justice System: the New Mediation Act Significance

The year 2004 ended happily for mediation supporters in Bulgaria, when on December 2nd, the Bulgarian Parliament finally adopted the long-awaited Mediation Act. The Act was promulgated in State Gazette N 110 on December 17th, 2004 and enforced on December 20th, 2004. Given that the path towards the adoption of this law was wrought with difficulties, its’ final passage represents a huge success.

Abrashev, Boris. Setting up of Victim Offender Mediation Centre in Varna.

A training seminar for mediators and criminal justice practitioners took place in Varna (Bulgaria) on 2-3 December 2004. It was the third of a series of events, organised by the Help Foundation - a local Bulgarian NGO working in the field of crime prevention and rehabilitation of ex-offenders. The event was financially supported by the Council of Europe within the framework of Integrated Projects 2 - “Responses to Violence in Everyday Life in a Democratic Society”. (excerpt)

Chankova, Dobrinka. Bulgarian Mediation Act - A delayed start of a new Velvet Revolution in the justice system.

The year 2004 ended happily for the mediation society in Bulgaria: on December 2nd, the Bulgarian Parliament finally adopted the long expected Mediation Act. The Act was promulgated in State Gazette N 110 on 17 December 2004 and enforced on 20 December 2004. Considering that the pre-enforcement history of the law was wrought with hurdles, this was definitely a huge success. (excerpt)

Hanganu, Sorin. Ideologies in sentencing in Central and Eastern European countries.

There are a number of common features of the criminal justice systems in the countries situated in the Central and Eastern part of Europe, also known as "former socialist countries", or "former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics". They have been recently called also "Newly Independent States". The influence of the Soviet Union on these countries had imprinted some specific elements regarding the criminal policy, the system of sanctions, as well as the public opinion on crime and punishment. One can easily see in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, in the Baltic States Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), to a certain degree also in Romania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, etc. a highly punitive criminal sanction system, using detention as main tool of punishment and long term imprisonments resulting in high number of detained people. Accordingly, there are overcrowded prisons, increased recidivism, difficulties of reintegrating offenders into the communities and there is low community participation in the processes of offenders’ reconciliation. The table on the right presents the situation of the detention in some of the European countries. Compared to the medium level of detention in the 15 countries, i.e. in the member states of the European Union before its extension on 1st of May 2004, which constituted 97 detainees per 100.000 inhabitants on 1st of January 2004, this number is six times higher in case of Russia (584 detainees), four times higher in Ukraine (416 detainees) and twice as high in Romania (190 detainees). What are the causes of this situation? What has happened? What to do in order to achieve some beneficial changes? To answer these questions, a short overview of the criminal sanctions before the 90’s should be given. (excerpt)

Anonymous. Rules Pertaining to the Unified Register of Mediators.

These rules shall set forth the terms and procedure for inclusion in the Unified Register of Mediators (hereinafter “the Register”), which shall be established and maintained by the MOJ of Bulgaria. (excerpt)

Chankova, Dobrinka and Staninska, Emilia. Bulgaria on the Road to Victim-Offender Mediation.

Although in the last decade mediation in all fields (civil, labour, penal matters etc.) has had numerous proponents in academic circles and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and has won recognition in wider society, it only recently began to attract the attention and support of policy makers and members of Parliament, and not without a push from outside.

Chankova, Dobrinka. Positioning Mediation in the Bulgarian Justice System: The New Mediation Act's Significance.

The year 2004 ended happily for mediation supporters in Bulgaria, when on December 2nd, the Bulgarian Parliament finally adopted the long-awaited Mediation Act. The Act was promulgated in State Gazette N 110 on December 17th, 2004 and enforced on December 20th, 2004. Given that the path towards the adoption of this law was wrought with difficulties, its’ final passage represents a huge success. (excerpt)

Chankova, Dobrinka. Applicability of Victim-Offender Mediation in Bulgaria According to the Law Enforcement Authorities.

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Chankova, Dobrinka. The Implementation of the UN Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice on Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power in Bulgaria.

Against claims to the contrary, Dobrinka Chankova asserts that the Bulgarian justice system has ignored victims of crime for a long time. While some basic protection for victims has been provided, Bulgaria has not achieved the full implementation of the UN Declaration on Basic Principles of Justice on Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. Still, Chankova acknowledges, some positive developments are occurring. In this article, she describes the traditional position of crime victims in Bulgarian criminal justice, recent changes in the legal status of crime victims, and continuing shortcomings of the system.

Editor. Victim-offender Mediation Receives Support in Bulgaria

At the end of 2007 restorative justice developments in Bulgaria were significantly accelerated. Two big events - a work-shop and a round-table discussion on perspectives on mediation in penal matters - were successfully organized in Sofia by the National Association of Mediator, an umbrella organization, the Union of Bulgarian Jurists and the Institute of Conflict Resolution, and sponsored by the Technical Assistance Information Exchange Instrument (TAIEX), DG Enlargement of the European Commission and the 'Institut Francais', Sofia. Both events were part of the campaign for the promotion of restorative justice and victim-offender mediation, in compliance with several instruments of the EU, Council of Europe, UN, etc. They are attracted more than 80 representatives from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior, the judiciary, NGOs, practicing mediators, and researches from Bulgaria and abroad. (Excerpt)

National Assembly of Bulgaria.. Law on Mediation. Prom. SG. 110/17 Dec 2004.

Art. 1. This law shall stipulate relations connected with the mediation as an alternative way of settlement of legal and non-legal disputes. Concept of mediation Art. 2. The mediation shall be a voluntary and confidential proceedings of out-of-court settlement of disputes whereas a third person – mediator assists the disputing parties to achieve settlement. Subject of mediation Art. 3. (1) Subject of mediation may be civil, commercial, labour, family and administrative disputes related to rights of consumers and another disputes between natural and/or legal persons. (2) Mediation shall be performed as well as in the cases envisaged in the Penal Procedure Code.

Chankova, Dobrinka. Applicability of Mediation in Bulgaria: The View of Law Enforcement Professionals

This survey, launched in March and April 2000 in Sofia and Blagoevgrad Court District, clearly demonstrates that the ideology of mediation as an alternative to the criminal proceedings is well understood and Bulgarian law enforcement authorities are prepared to apply it in their everyday practice. This work was supported by the Research Support Scheme of the Open Society Support Foundation, grant 1538/1999.

Chankova, Dobrinka. Restorative Justice in Bulgaria.

Dobrinka Chankova of the Institute For Conflict Resolution in Sofia, Bulagaria provides a look at the movement for restorative justice in her country.

Victim Offender Mediation's Potential.

Dobrinka Chankova, Director of the Institute for Conflict Resolution in Bulgaria, recently published a book on victim offender mediation. The book, written in Bulgarian, provides a history of victim offender mediation and its potential in the Bulgarian justice system. Dobrinka has provided an English summary of the book, which was published by Feneya Press in Sofia.

Restorative Justice in Bulgaria

Dobrinka Chankova of the Institute For Conflict Resolution in Sofia, Bulagaria provides a look at the movement for restorative justice in her country.