BULGARIA – CRIMINAL CODE

GENERAL PART

Chapter Four - PUNISHMENT

Section II - Kinds of Punishments

Article 38a
(1) Imprisonment for life shall be compulsory isolation of a convict for the remaining portion of the convict's life at penitentiary institutions for serving punishment by deprivation of liberty.

(2) Life imprisonment shall be inflicted where the crime committed is extremely grave.

(3) Imprisonment for life may be substituted for deprivation of liberty for a term of thirty years, provided the convict has served no less than twenty years.

(4) Work days shall not be counted during the serving of punishment by Imprisonment for life.

(5) The served punishment by life imprisonment shall be recognised as deprivation of liberty.

BULGARIA – CRIMINAL CODE

GENERAL PART

Chapter Four - PUNISHMENT

Section II - Kinds of Punishments

Article 40

(1) (Amended, SG No. 28/1982, No. 75/2006) The punishment by deprivation of liberty shall be served in prisons and correctional establishments, as well as in the prison hostels attached to them.

(2) (Amended, SG No. 89/1986; repealed, SG No. 92/2002).

(3) Special care shall be taken of the young people of full age.

(4) (Supplemented, SG No. 75/2006) With respect to convicts with grave psychopath, or those suffering from mental derangement which does not exclude penal responsibility, as well as with respect to convicts dependent on narcotic substances, medical care shall be provided as appropriate.

Article 103
Role of States in enforcement of sentences of imprisonment
1. (a) A sentence of imprisonment shall be served in a State designated by the Court from a list of States which have indicated to the Court their willingness to accept sentenced persons.
(b) At the time of declaring its willingness to accept sentenced persons, a State may attach conditions to its acceptance as agreed by the Court and in accordance with this Part.
(c) A State designated in a particular case shall promptly inform the Court whether it accepts the Court's designation.
2. (a) The State of enforcement shall notify the Court of any circumstances, including the exercise of any conditions agreed under paragraph 1, which could materially affect the terms or extent of the imprisonment. The Court shall be given at least 45 days' notice of any such known or foreseeable
circumstances. During this period, the State of enforcement shall take no action that might prejudice its obligations under article 110.
(b) Where the Court cannot agree to the circumstances referred to in subparagraph (a), it shall notify the State of enforcement and proceed in accordance with article 104, paragraph 1.
3. In exercising its discretion to make a designation under paragraph 1, the Court shall take into account the following:
(a) The principle that States Parties should share the responsibility for enforcing sentences of imprisonment, in accordance with principles of equitable distribution, as provided in the Rules of Procedure and Evidence;
(b) The application of widely accepted international treaty standards governing the treatment of prisoners;
(c) The views of the sentenced person;
(d) The nationality of the sentenced person;
(e) Such other factors regarding the circumstances of the crime or the person sentenced, or the effective enforcement of the sentence, as may be appropriate in designating the State of enforcement.
4. If no State is designated under paragraph 1, the sentence of imprisonment shall be served in a prison facility made available by the host State, in accordance with the conditions set out in the headquarters agreement referred to in article 3, paragraph 2. In such a case, the costs arising out of the enforcement of a sentence of imprisonment shall be borne by the Court.

Article 105
Enforcement of the sentence
1. Subject to conditions which a State may have specified in accordance with article 103, paragraph 1 (b), the sentence of imprisonment shall be binding on the States Parties, which shall in no case modify it.
2. The Court alone shall have the right to decide any application for appeal and revision. The State of enforcement shall not impede the making of any such application by a sentenced person.