Bulgaria's Property Act (ЗС): property rights and case law

The Property Act (Закон за собствеността, ЗС) of 1951 remains the backbone of Bulgarian property law (вещно право). Despite its venerable age, its current wording (last amended in State Gazette (ДВ) No. 18 of 4 March 2022) and more than seven decades of case law of the Supreme Court of Cassation (ВКС) make it a living, not a static, text.

This analysis structures the system of the Act (the types of ownership, the content of the right, co-ownership, acquisitive prescription and the protection of ownership) using the current interpretative case law as a guide. The aim is a quick professional reference that puts the statutory provisions in the context of how they are applied.

Subject matter and structure of the ЗС

The Property Act was promulgated in ДВ No. 92 of 16 November 1951 and has undergone deep reforms, the most significant after 1990 (the restoration of private property) and in 1996. Its current wording includes amendments up to ДВ No. 18 of 2022. This historical layering requires attention to the version that applied at the relevant moment, especially in disputes with a long history of limitation periods.

The ЗС is the general law in the field of property law. It is supplemented and displaced by a number of special laws: the State Property Act (Закон за държавната собственост, ЗДС) and the Municipal Property Act (Закон за общинската собственост, ЗОС) regulate the regime of public property; the Condominium Management Act (Закон за управление на етажната собственост, ЗУЕС) of 2009 took the management of condominium ownership out of the ЗС; the Spatial Development Act (Закон за устройство на територията, ЗУТ) regulates the construction aspects, and the Obligations and Contracts Act (Закон за задълженията и договорите, ЗЗД) and the Civil Procedure Code (Граждански процесуален кодекс, ГПК) supplement the substantive and procedural questions. Where a special law regulates a given relationship, it applies in priority over the ЗС.

The right of ownership and its content

The right of ownership is the fullest property right and includes three classic powers: possession (владение), use (ползване) and disposal (разпореждане). The owner may use the thing, take its fruits and dispose of it, within the limits set by law. These powers are not absolute: they are subject to limitations in the public interest (expropriation for state and municipal needs, easements under special laws) and in the interest of neighbours (neighbour law, съседско право).

The distinction between public and private property of the state and the municipalities has direct practical significance: things that are public property are outside civil circulation, cannot be acquired by prescription and are not subject to enforcement. Their regime is further regulated by the ЗДС and ЗОС.

Co-ownership: management, disposal and partition

Co-ownership arises when the right of ownership belongs jointly to two or more persons over one thing. The Act establishes a presumption of equal shares, which has significant evidential importance in disputes between co-owners.

A precise distinction needs to be drawn: the presumption of equal shares is in Art. 30(2) ЗС, while each co-owner’s participation in the benefits and burdens in proportion to their share is regulated in para. 3. Mixing up the two paragraphs is a common inaccuracy in statements of claim.

The common thing is managed by a decision of the majority of the co-owners, calculated by shares: more than half of the common thing (Art. 32 ЗС). Where there is no majority, or where the decision is harmful to the common thing, the district court decides at the request of any co-owner.

Every co-owner may demand partition of the common thing (Art. 34 ЗС), and the claim for partition is not subject to limitation: the right to end the co-ownership exists for as long as the co-ownership itself lasts. Partition may be voluntary (by a contract in the form prescribed by Art. 35 ЗС) or judicial (under Art. 341 et seq. ГПК).

Acquisitive prescription and possession

Acquisitive prescription (придобивна давност) is an original mode of acquiring property rights through prolonged possession. The key distinction is between possession and detention: a possessor holds the thing as their own (with the intention to make it their own: animus), while a holder holds it for someone else.

The periods of acquisitive prescription depend on the good faith of the possession. A possessor in bad faith acquires an immovable property by continuous possession for 10 years, and one in good faith for 5 years.

Possession can be joined: the present possessor may add to their own possession that of their predecessor in title (Art. 82 ЗС), which is particularly important in succession and in a chain of transfers. The suspension and interruption of acquisitive prescription are regulated by reference to the rules of the ЗЗД on extinctive prescription (погасителна давност).

Acquisitive prescription between co-owners is particularly delicate. Since every co-owner as a rule possesses the whole thing for themselves and for the others, actual control by itself is not enough for prescription to run in their favour over the undivided shares of the others. A manifestation of a change of intention is required.

Property rights in another’s thing

Besides the right of ownership, the ЗС regulates limited property rights in another’s thing. They give the holder certain powers without making them the owner of the thing itself.

The right to build breaks the otherwise applicable principle that the owner of the land is also the owner of what is built on it (superficies solo cedit). Where superficies is established, the building belongs to the superficiary (суперфициар), and the land to its owner. The right of use (Art. 56-62 ЗС), for its part, is personal and cannot be transferred, and it is extinguished at the latest on the death of the user, if it was established for a natural person.

Condominium ownership (етажна собственост) is regulated in Art. 37-46 ЗС, but its management has been moved to a separate law. With the Condominium Management Act (ЗУЕС), in force from 1 May 2009, the regime of the general assembly, the management bodies and the "Repair and Renovation" fund is regulated independently. What remains in the ЗС are the substantive foundations: the regime of the common parts and the relationship between individual and common ownership.

Protection of ownership: the recovery claim and the negatory claim

The right of ownership is protected through two main petitory claims (петиторни искове). They differ in their conditions and in the result sought, and the right choice between them is of significant practical importance.

The distinction is a matter of principle: the recovery claim (Art. 108) is used when the owner has been deprived of possession and wants the thing returned, whereas the negatory claim (Art. 109) protects an owner who is in possession but is disturbed by unjustified acts of a third party. Alongside them the ЗС also provides possessory claims (Art. 75 and Art. 76 ЗС), which protect possession itself regardless of the right of ownership and are brought within short periods.

Practical guidance for lawyers and students

The analysis of a property dispute follows a logical sequence. The checklist below summarises the key steps in preparing a case under the ЗС.

Last but not least, in every dispute you should check whether the ЗС gives way to a special law. The regime of state and municipal property is governed by the ЗДС and ЗОС, the management of condominiums by the ЗУЕС, and planning and construction questions by the ЗУТ. Applying the general law where a special one applies is a fundamental error.

For a deeper look at individual institutions, the classical doctrine can be consulted: "System of Bulgarian Property Law" (Система на българското вещно право) by Prof. Petko Venedikov and "Property Law" (Вещно право) by Prof. Georgi Boyanov remain the main reference points for a theoretical understanding of the subject.