BULGARIA – CRIMINAL CODE

SPECIAL PART

Chapter Eight - CRIMES AGAINST ACTIVITIES OF STATE BODIES AND PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS AND PERSONS PERFORMING PUBLIC FUNCTIONS

Section III - Crimes Against Justice

Article 287a

A Person who, for the purposes of misleading the judicial authorities:

1. prepares untrue technical records or forges real ones;

2. destroys records of parts thereof, collects and sorts the record data and thus creates untrue notion of the respective circumstances;

3. uses forged technical records;

4. uses unlawfully the information acquired by means of special intelligence devices,

shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for one to five years and a fine from BGN five hundred to one thousand.

BULGARIA – CRIMINAL CODE

SPECIAL PART

Chapter Eight - CRIMES AGAINST ACTIVITIES OF STATE BODIES AND PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS AND PERSONS PERFORMING PUBLIC FUNCTIONS

Section III- Crimes Against Justice

Article 289

A person who entices official of the investigating bodies or of the prosecutor office or of the judicial authorities to violate their official duty in connection with the administration of justice, shall be punished by deprivation of liberty from one to six years.

BULGARIA – CRIMINAL CODE

SPECIAL PART

Chapter Eight - CRIMES AGAINST ACTIVITIES OF STATE BODIES AND PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS AND PERSONS PERFORMING PUBLIC FUNCTIONS

Section III - Crimes Against Justice

Article 290

(1) Persons who, in their capacity of witness before the court or before another respective body of authority, orally or in writing consciously assert untrue statement or hold back the truth, shall be punished for perjury by deprivation of liberty for up to five years.

(2) The same punishment shall also be imposed on a translator or interpreter who before the court or another respective body of authority, orally or in writing consciously renders untrue translation or interpretation.

BULGARIA – CRIMINAL CODE

SPECIAL PART

Chapter Eight - CRIMES AGAINST ACTIVITIES OF STATE BODIES AND PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS AND PERSONS PERFORMING PUBLIC FUNCTIONS

Section III - Crimes Against Justice

Article 290a

Persons, who assert untrue statement or hold back the truth in an affidavit presented in court, shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for up to three years.

BULGARIA – CRIMINAL CODE

SPECIAL PART

Chapter Eight - CRIMES AGAINST ACTIVITIES OF STATE BODIES AND PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS AND PERSONS PERFORMING PUBLIC FUNCTIONS

Section III - Crimes Against Justice

Article 291

(1) Persons who in their capacity of expert before the court or another respective body of authority orally or in writing consciously give untrue conclusion, shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for one to five years and by deprivation of the right under Article 37 (1), sub-paragraph 7.

(2) Where the act under the preceding paragraph has been committed through negligence, the punishment shall be deprivation of liberty for up to one year or probation. The court may also rule deprivation of the right under Article 37 (1), sub paragraph 7.

BULGARIA – CRIMINAL CODE

SPECIAL PART

Chapter Eight - CRIMES AGAINST ACTIVITIES OF STATE BODIES AND PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS AND PERSONS PERFORMING PUBLIC FUNCTIONS

Section III - Crimes Against Justice

Article 293

(1) (Redesignated from Article 293, supplemented, SG No. 89/1986) A person who abets another to a crime under Articles 290, 290a and 291 shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for up to one year or by probation.

(2) (New, SG No. 89/1986) Where two or more persons have been abetted and the case is particularly grave, the punishment shall be deprivation of liberty for up to three years.

BULGARIA – CRIMINAL CODE

SPECIAL PART

Chapter Eight - CRIMES AGAINST ACTIVITIES OF STATE BODIES AND PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS AND PERSONS PERFORMING PUBLIC FUNCTIONS

Section III -Crimes Against Justice

Article 296

(2) A person who, for the purpose of obstructing or preventing enforcement of a court judgment destroys, damages, conceals or appropriates an object to which such judgment refers, shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for up to three years and a fine from BGN one thousand to ten thousand, provided the perpetrated act does not constitute a graver crime.

BULGARIA – CRIMINAL CODE

SPECIAL PART

Chapter Eight - CRIMES AGAINST ACTIVITIES OF STATE BODIES AND PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS AND PERSONS PERFORMING PUBLIC FUNCTIONS

Section III - Crimes Against Justice

Article 297

(1) A prisoner who escapes shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for up to three years.

(2) Where for the purpose of escape the prisoner has resorted to undermining, pulling down and destruction of walls, doors, windows and the like, the punishment shall be deprivation of liberty for up to five years.

(3) Prisoner shall be considered to be any person detained in custody pursuant to the procedure established by law.

Article 298

(1) Prisoners who have conspired to escape through joint efforts shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for up to two years.

(2) Where the prisoners have proceeded with fulfilment of the contemplated escape the punishment shall be deprivation of liberty for up to five years.

Article 299
An official who wilfully releases or allows a prisoner to escape, shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for up to five years, and the court may deprive the culprit of the right under Article 37 (1), sub-paragraph 6.

BULGARIA – CRIMINAL CODE

SPECIAL PART

Chapter Eight - CRIMES AGAINST ACTIVITIES OF STATE BODIES AND PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS AND PERSONS PERFORMING PUBLIC FUNCTIONS

Section IV - Bribery

Article 301

(1) An official who accepts a gift or any other undue benefit, or accepts a proposal or a promise for a gift or benefit, in order to perform or to fail to perform an act connected with his service, or because he has performed or failed to perform such an act, shall be punished for bribery by deprivation of liberty for one to six years.

(2) If the official has committed any of the acts under par. 1 in order to violate, or for having violated his service, where this violation does not constitute a crime, the punishment shall be deprivation of liberty of up to 8 to eight years and a fine of up to BGN ten thousand.

(3) If the official has committed any of the acts under paragraph 1 in order to perform or because of having performed another crime in connection with his service, the punishment shall be deprivation of liberty of up to ten years and a fine of up to BGN fifteen thousand.

(4) In the cases of the preceding paragraphs, the court shall rule deprivation of the rights under Article 37 (1), sub-paragraphs 6 and 7.

(5) Punishment under par. 1 shall also be imposed to a foreign official who requests or accepts bribery or accepts a proposal for or a promise of bribery.

BULGARIA – CRIMINAL CODE

SPECIAL PART

Chapter Eight - CRIMES AGAINST ACTIVITIES OF STATE BODIES AND PUBLIC ORGANISATIONS AND PERSONS PERFORMING PUBLIC FUNCTIONS

Section IV - Bribery

Article 302

For bribery committed:

1. (Last Amendment, SG No.26/2010) by a person holding a responsible official position, including that of a judge, assessor, prosecutor, or investigator, or police authority or the investigating officer.

2. through blackmail with abuse of one's official position;

3. (Amended, SG No. 28/1982) for a second time, and

4. on a large scale, the punishment shall be:

a) in the cases of Article 301, paragraphs (1) and (2) - deprivation of liberty for three to ten years, fine of up to BGN twenty thousand, and deprivation of rights under Article 37 (1), sub-paragraphs 6 and 7;

b) in the cases of Article 301, paragraph (3) - deprivation of liberty from three to fifteen years, fine of up to BGN twenty-five thousand, and confiscation of up to one half of the culprit's property, and the court shall rule deprivation of rights under Article 37 (1), sub-paragraphs 6 and 7.

Article 302a

For bribery in particularly large amounts, representing a particularly grave case, the punishment shall be deprivation of liberty from ten to thirty years, fine of up to BGN thirty thousand, confiscation of the whole or part of the culprit's property and deprivation of rights under Article 37 (1), sub-paragraphs 6 and 7.

Article 303

In accordance with the differences under the preceding articles, the official shall also be punished where, with his consent, the gift or material benefit have been offered, promised, or given to another person.

Article 304

(1) A person who offers, promises, or gives a gift or any other material benefit to an official in order to perform or not to perform an act within the framework of his service, or because he has performed or has not performed such an act, shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for a term of up to six years and a fine of up to BGN five thousand.

(2) If in connection with such bribe the official has violated his official duties, the punishment shall be deprivation of liberty for a term of up to eight years and a fine of up to BGN seven thousand, where this violation does not constitute a graver punishable crime.

(3) The punishment as per paragraph (1) above shall be also inflicted on any person who gives a bribe to a foreign official.

Article 304a

A person who proposes, promises or gives a bribe to an official in a responsible position, including that of a judge, assessor, prosecutor, or investigator or police authority or the investigating officer shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for a term of up to ten years and a fine of up to BGN fifteen thousand.

Article 304b

(1) Anyone who requests or accepts a gift, or any undue benefit, or accepts a proposal or promise for a gift or benefit, in order to exert influence over an official or a foreign official in decision-making in relation to his/her service, shall be punished by deprivation of liberty of up to six years and a fine of up to BGN five thousand.

(2) Anyone who proposes, promises, or gives a gift or any undue benefit to a person alleging he/she might exert the influence under par. 1, shall be punished by deprivation of liberty of up to three years and a fine of up to BGN three thousand.

Article 305

(1) The punishments for bribery under the preceding paragraphs shall also be imposed to an arbiter or expert, appointed by a court, institution, enterprise or organisation where they perpetrate such acts in connection with the tasks entrusted to them, as well as on the person who proposes, promises, or gives such a bribe.

(2) Punishments for bribery under the preceding articles shall be imposed to a defence counsel of any party in judicial proceedings where he/she commits an act, as stated above, to help adjudicate to the benefit of the adversary or to the detriment of their client pending criminal or civil proceedings at stake, as well to the individual who proposes, promises or gives such bribe.

Article 305a

A person who mediates for any of the acts under the preceding articles, if the perpetrated act does not represent a graver crime, shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for up to three years and a fine of up to BGN five thousand.

Article 306

A person who has proposed, promised, or given a bribe shall not be punished: if he has been blackmailed by the official, arbiter or by the expert to do so and if of his own accord he has immediately informed the authorities.

Article 307

A person who with premeditation creates a situation or conditions conducive to the offering, giving or receiving of a bribe for the purpose of causing harm to a person who gives or receives the bribe, shall be punished for provocation to give or take bribe by deprivation of liberty for up to three years.

Article 307a

The object of the crime under this section shall be confiscated in favour of the state and where it is missing, a sum equal to its value shall be adjudged.