Bulgaria

  1. Under what circumstances can a stolen vehicle be seized in your country?
  • A stolen motor vehicle can be seized in Bulgaria:
  • for the purposes of the criminal jurisdiction (Article 106 of the Criminal code)
  • for the purposes of an international commission rogatoire (Articles 3 & 6 of the European Convention for mutual co-operation in criminal matters)
  • other International Conventions signed by the Republic of Bulgaria.
  1. What channels are used to notify the owner of the vehicle’s location (Interpol or other)?
  • There are no restrictions in the channel used for notifying the owner for the seizure of one motor vehicle. When a Bulgarian vehicle is seized abroad or a foreign vehicle is sized in Bulgaria the usual channel is the Interpol channel.
  1. Who is responsible for the storage of seized vehicles?
  • Responsible for the storage are the investigators (article 48 of the Criminal Code) dealing with the particular case.
  1. Are there any costs associated with storage of a seized stolen vehicle and who is responsible for these costs?
  • The storage of seized motor vehicles is determined by the investigators. For the time of investigation responsible for the costs is the Investigating Service.
  1. How does a stolen vehicle get restored to its legal owner?
    The recovery of a motor vehicle, seized as material evidence, can be accomplished:
  • by the Prosecutor (Art. 108 of the Penal Code) – befor the end of the criminal jurisdiction;
  • by the Court (Art. 247, paragraph 2; Art. 304, par. 1, section 4 of the Penal Code).

a) Do the police have authority to restore the vehicle?

The police has no authority to restore the vehicle.

b) Is it the local court who authorises release of the vehicle?

There is no police court in Bulgaria

c) Is it necessary to have a “commission rogatoire” to recover the vehicle?

It is impossible to recover a vehicle using the institution of a “commission rogatoire” according to the Bulgarian law.

d) What documentation does the owner have to provide in order to recover the vehicle?

There are no special regulations for the documentation for recovering a vehicle. It is specific for every case

  1. Are there any time limits associated with recovery of the vehicle? (i.e. after a certain period of time the vehicle becomes the property of the state or police, etc.)?
  • All motor vehicles. seized as material evidences (with exception of the cases connected with Art. 53 of the Penal Code) become state property:
  • when it could not. be established who is the owner or
  • when after 1 year nobody has claimed for recovering his property.
  1. Please give details of relevant legislation
  • According to Art. 78 of the Property Law a motor vehicle could not become property of anybody on legal base by the absence of a notary signed contract
  1. If the law in your country precludes the restitution of a stolen vehicle to its original owner, please give the reasons why
  • There are no precludes for restitution of a stolen motor vehicle when the original owner demonstrate the demanded evidences in the Court according to the Bulgarian Civil Code.
  1. Does your country have any bilateral treaties, conventions, or agreements with other countries dealing with the recovery of stolen property? If so, please describe how they operate and give details of the countries concerned
  • The Republic of Bulgaria has bilateral treaties. conventions and’ agreements with other countries dealing with recovery of stolen property.
  1. Reference point, for assistance in case of difficulties
  • Reference point (contact name) for assistance in case of difficulties:
  • NCB Sofia, Tel: +359 2 980 36 28, fax; + 359 2 980 40 47, 24-hours duty service.
  • Higher Cassation Prosecutor’s Office, Administrative department, section International relations, Sofia, Bulgaria.