State liability for damage in Bulgaria: ЗОДОВ analysis 2026

The State and Municipalities Liability for Damage Act (ЗОДОВ) went through a series of substantial amendments between 2023 and 2026, which widened the situations in which liability arises. There is a new situation of failing to issue a document within the period under Art. 174 of the Administrative Procedure Code (АПК) (Art. 1(2), in force from 3 September 2025), two new items have been added to Art. 2(1), and liability for acts under anti-corruption legislation has been rearranged. This analysis sets out the wording in force and outlines the procedural limits that every practitioner bringing a damages claim against a state or municipal authority needs to know.

What the ЗОДОВ regulates: objective, no-fault liability

Liability under the ЗОДОВ has a direct constitutional basis. Under Art. 7 of the Constitution, the state is liable for damage caused by unlawful acts or actions of its bodies and officials. The ЗОДОВ develops this principle as a special law, promulgated in State Gazette (ДВ) issue 60 of 1988, in force from 1 January 1989, with a title amended in State Gazette issue 30 of 2006.

The key feature of this liability is that it is objective and no-fault (Art. 4 ЗОДОВ). Unlike tort liability under Arts. 45 to 54 of the Obligations and Contracts Act (ЗЗД), the fault of the particular official is not examined here. It is enough to establish the unlawfulness of the act, action or inaction, the damage that occurred and the causal link between them. By virtue of Art. 8 ЗОДОВ, this special procedure excludes the application of the general rules of the ЗЗД for the same damage.

Liability for the activity of the administration (Art. 1 ЗОДОВ)

Article 1 regulates liability for damage from unlawful administrative activity. Paragraph 1 covers the unlawful acts, actions and inaction of bodies and officials. With the addition made by State Gazette issue 94 of 2019, damage from annulled secondary legislation (подзаконови нормативни актове) also expressly came within its scope, which overcame the restrictive interpretation in the earlier case law of the Supreme Administrative Court (ВАС).

The most significant amendment for practice is the new paragraph 2 of Art. 1. It introduces a self-standing situation of liability for inaction consisting of failing to issue a document within the period set by law.

Liability for the activity of the law-enforcement and judicial bodies (Art. 2 ЗОДОВ)

Article 2 regulates liability for damage from the activity of the pre-trial authorities, the prosecution service and the court. Paragraph 1 contains an exhaustive list of situations: detention in custody, a charge that ended in an acquittal or was discontinued, serving a sentence beyond the set term, the use of special intelligence means in breach of the law, and others. The list has been extended with two new items.

For the most commonly applied situation, a charge that ended in acquittal or discontinuance (Art. 2(1), item 3), the conditions for the claim to succeed are cumulative. The burden of proving the amount of the damage and the causal link lies on the claimant.

Article 2(2) regulates a separate situation: liability for damage from court acts under anti-corruption legislation. The subject matter of this paragraph and its amendment by State Gazette issue 84 of 2023 have been confirmed. The anti-corruption legal framework is being restructured in 2026, so when drafting a statement of claim in this situation you must check the consolidated wording of the ЗОДОВ in force and the relevant anti-corruption law at the date of filing, and not rely on an older version. The procedure under Art. 2(3) is that of the Civil Procedure Code (ГПК).

Reasonable time and breach of EU law (Art. 2б and Art. 2в)

Article 2b regulates the state’s liability for breach of the right to have a case heard and decided within a reasonable time, under Art. 6(1) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Claims under Art. 2б are heard under the ГПК. Before or in parallel with the claim, the injured person also has an administrative procedure under Chapter Three “a” of the Judiciary Act (ЗСВ).

Article 2v regulates claims for damage from a sufficiently serious breach of European Union law by state bodies (new, State Gazette issue 94 of 2019). The procedure depends on the nature of the body: under the АПК or under the ГПК. The basis of this situation lies in the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU: the principle of state liability was established by the judgment in Francovich (joined cases C-6/90 and C-9/90, 1991), the standard of “sufficiently serious breach” was derived in the line of Brasserie du Pecheur and Factortame III (joined cases C-46/93 and C-48/93, 1996) and developed further for courts of last instance in Traghetti del Mediterraneo (C-173/03, 2006).

Compensation, contributory fault and inheritance (Art. 4 to Art. 6)

Article 4 defines the scope of compensation: all pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage that is a direct and immediate consequence of the harm is due. Paragraph 2 (State Gazette issue 94 of 2019) provides for joint and several liability where there are several defendants. Legal entities as a rule claim only pecuniary damage.

Article 5 distinguishes two different consequences. Where the injured person was exclusively at fault, no compensation is due. Where there is contributory fault, the compensation is reduced in proportion to the contribution of the injured person. Article 6 regulates the inheritance of the right to compensation, with the particular features that apply to non-pecuniary damage.

As to state fees, a substantial change came with the introduction of the euro. The fee in cases under the ЗОДОВ is a simple one (not proportional to the amount of the claim). The basis is Art. 9а ЗОДОВ, and the specific amount is set in Art. 2а of the Tariff of the state fees collected by the courts under the ГПК.

Jurisdiction, limitation and bringing the claim (Art. 7 to Art. 8)

Article 7 regulates jurisdiction: the claim is brought before the court at the place of the harm or at the current address or, respectively, the seat of the injured party. Under the new paragraph 2 (State Gazette issue 94 of 2019), cases are heard as a court of last instance by the respective Supreme Court of Cassation (ВКС) or Supreme Administrative Court (ВАС), depending on the procedure under which they are heard.

The choice of procedure is one of the most common places for mistakes. Claims under Art. 1 (administrative activity) are heard under the АПК, and those under Art. 2 (law-enforcement and judicial bodies) under the ГПК. A different procedure brings a different competent court and a different last instance.

Practical guidance for the litigator

Before bringing a claim under the ЗОДОВ, it is worth going through a short checklist that screens out the most common procedural omissions.

For additional context on the case law, which is often decisive in cases under the ЗОДОВ, see our materials on the court acts of the Supreme Court of Cassation and on the interpretative decisions of the Supreme Court of Cassation in civil cases, which matter for claims under Art. 2б and Art. 2в. The full text of the law is available on lex.bg.