Establishment and development of Bulgarian criminal law.
Teodora Savova Savova- Lawyer, Bulgaria
1. Ottoman criminal law. On April 16, 1879, the Tarnovo Constitution entered into force, which marked the beginning of the establishment of the Bulgarian statehood after the Liberation. The special place and functions of criminal law in a country presuppose first to positively regulate public relations and then to ensure their protection. The Ottoman NZ (1861), an imitation of the Napoleonic NZ (1810), was originally applied. It is a reflection of the capitalist changes that have begun. It was initially applied alongside the newly established Bulgarian criminal laws.
2. Criminal law of 1896. It consists of a common part and a special part. Extremely developed for its time, the general part of the NZ regulates the basic institutes and concepts. The double division of criminal acts into crimes and violations depending on the degree and nature of public danger has been adopted. The special part is divided into two sections - for the crimes and the punishments for them and for the violations and the punishments for them. Special criminal laws are applied - for example, the State Protection Act, etc.
3. Criminal Code of 1951. The establishment of the totalitarian two-party regime ends and a new National Assembly is adopted in force from 13.II.1951. He introduced a new legal definition of the crime - the public nature of the crime, expressed through its socially dangerous nature; the public danger is outlined; the crime can only be a guilty act (an expression of the principle of guilt).
4. Penal Code of 1956. Totalitarian rule is stabilizing, and there is no need for quick reactions. We come to the first Bulgarian Penal Code, developed on the basis of the current criminal law - almost mechanical unification, but eliminates the division of criminal law into main and additional. The analogy in the NP is removed. New sets of economic crimes and new chapters on transport and war crimes are included.
5. Penal Code of 1968. Everything positive in criminal law has been preserved so far. The Penal Code was developed under the leadership of Prof. I. Nenov, many scientists were involved. It was adopted in a period of prosperity, when totalitarianism does not feel threatened from within - the most progressive and rational decisions of all European legislation have been adopted. In the 1980s, the economic and moral crisis in the country intensified and changes were made to intensify criminal repression, but the full codification achieved through special laws was not affected.
Sources Notes on Panayotov, Criminal law - General part, Stoynov Al., Since 1999
