site.btaParliament Adopts Code of Civil Procedure Amendments to Unburden Courts

Parliament adopted Wednesday in the second reading amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) aimed at decongesting the courts. Legal Committee Deputy Chairman Milen Mateev (Continue the Change) commented that the bill is long awaited by judges of the busiest courts in the country.

The amendments states that all procedural actions in the writ proceedings, including the issuance of warrants and writs of enforcement, should be carried out in electronic form, alongside the submission of applications and their annexes available on the Unified portal for e-Justice. The applicant and the debtor may also carry out procedural acts in writing on paper. The State and public institutions and municipalities, excluding traders and people represented by a lawyer, will submit applications only in electronic form.  

With the transitional and final provisions of the amendments to the CCP, MPs also amended the Judicial Power Act (JPA). In the JPA, they wrote that applications for the issuance of enforcement orders shall be distributed centrally on the principle of random selection among all district judges in Bulgaria.

Provisions relating to writ proceedings shall be effective from July 1, 2024.

MPs also adopted other amendments to the CCP relating to the adjournment of cases and service of counsel, effective upon amendment promulgation.