Publications

In his latest piece for the European Audiovisual Observatory Newsletter Nikola Stoychev, actively assisted by Christian Ivanov, provides a brief overview of the novelties introduced in the local media sector regulation by the new Supply of Digital Content and Digital Services and Sale of Goods Act, and the amendments in the Electronic Communications Act.

*This publication is also available in German and French.

According to Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR), consent is one of the possible legal grounds for personal data processing. Consent is placed first among the conditions for the processing of personal data. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the nature of consent as a ground for the processing of personal data. The study traces back the emergence of consent as a basis for processing from historical perspective – its inclusion in national data protection acts and acts of EU law. Examined are the questions: What specifics does consent reveal and what requirements should be fulfilled in order for consent to be valid under GDPR? Does consent enjoy any hierarchical supremacy over other legal grounds for personal data processing? Are there cases where consent is not an appropriate legal basis and why? What opportunities does the consent provide for overcoming some of the GDPR explicit prohibitions – e.g. ones regarding automated individual decision-making or transferring personal data to third countries outside the European Union? What are the consent’s possibilities according to the Bulgarian national rules under the Personal Data Protection Act? This paper addresses the questions raised in the light of European and national practice of applying personal data protection rules, including by analyzing the practice of the national data protection supervisory authority – the Commission for Personal Data Protection.

*This publication is in Bulgarian.

In his latest piece for the European Audiovisual Observatory Newsletter Nikola Stoychev, actively assisted by Christian Ivanov, provides a brief overview of the novelties and major acquisitions in the local media, telecom and newspaper market.

*This publication is also available in German and French.

In issue 96 of 10 November 2020 of the State Gazette (SG) the Act for Amendment and Supplement to the Electronic Commerce Act (AASECA) was promulgated. As indicated in the motives to the AASECA bill, the amendments aim to ensure "adequate and effective implementation" of Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on promoting fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediation services. To that end, the rules and measures applicable to infringements of the Regulation shall be established at national level. This analysis explains what the amendments to the Electronic Commerce Act are and why they needed to be made.

*The publication is in Bulgarian.

For a second year in a row DPC arbitration experts have been invited as contributors to the Austrian Yearbook on International Arbitration. Pencho Stanchev and Martin Zahariev, PhD worked on the Bulgarian part to the chapter Jurisdictional Issues and Arbitration - An International Comparison of the Austrian Yearbook on International Arbitration 2021 with authors Gerold Zeiler and Andrijana Misovic.

On 25 May 2018, Regulation 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR/ the Regulation) became applicable. It introduced a unified regime for the protection of personal data within the European Union, further developing the existing national rules in this matter, adopted by the Member States when transposing the requirements of Directive 95/46 that precedes GDPR. Among the ambitious goals of the European legislator with the adoption of GDPR is to ensure the control of natural persons over their own personal data and to enhance legal and practical certainty for natural persons, economic operators and public authorities. One of the means to achieve this is to expand the scope of some existing rights of data subjects in the processing of their personal data, the establishment of new, hitherto unknown rights, as well as the regulation of reciprocal obligations of the subjects processing personal data – data controllers and processors. In addition, GDPR introduces specific rules on the remedies of the data subjects in case the requirements of the Regulation on the processing of their personal data are infringed. The purpose of this study is to analyze the rules for determining international jurisdiction in proceedings related to infringements of the rules of GDPR. The types of legal remedies that GDPR provides to data subjects are considered - the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, the right to effective judicial remedy against a supervisory authority and the right to effective judicial remedy against a controller or processor and the rules for determining international jurisdiction over the said proceedings.

*The publication is in Bulgarian.

In his latest piece for the European Audiovisual Observatory Newsletter Nikola Stoychev, actively assisted by Christian Ivanov, provides a brief overview of the novelties introduced by the new Act for Amendment and Supplement to the Radio and Television Act, which is implementing Directive (EU) 2018/1808 a.k.a the Audio-Visual Media Service Directive.

*This publication is also available in German and French.

Over the last decade there has been a constant trend towards digitalization of many traditional processes in business organizations. This trend has accelerated dramatically in recent months due to the anti-epidemic measures introduced against the COVID-19 pandemic, which have led to the mass introduction of remote work (where possible), remote business meetings, negotiations and signing of contract, etc. Perhaps the most important of these processes is the document flow of the organization, i.e. the creation, signing, exchange and storage of documents both inside the organization (e.g. documents created in connection with the work process) and outside it (e.g. documents connected to relations with suppliers, contractors, business partners and potential ones). However, with the introduction of concepts such as contract, concluded remotely, electronic statement (e-statement), electronic document (e-document) and electronic signature (e-signature), many questions arise, as well as fears that the new digital being of documents is not able to guarantee the interests of legal entities in the same way as the good old paper document. This analysis aims to examine the issues of the legal value and importance of e-documents in the context of commercial and civil law.

*The publication is in Bulgarian.

In his second piece for the European Audiovisual Observatory Newsletter, Nikola Stoychev, assisted by Christian Ivanov, summarizes the Bill to amend and supplement the Film Industry Act, envisaging various incentives for the promotion of the local film industry, including a new cash rebate aid scheme for the production of audiovisual works, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014. 

*This publication is also available in German and French.

The proceedings of the XXIX FIDE (International Federation for European Law) Congress in The Hague in 2020 are published in four volumes. This book (Vol. 3) contains the reports of the General Rapporteurs (Nicolas Petit and Pieter Van Cleynenbreugel),  the Institutional Rapporteur (Thomas Kramler) and the National Rapporteurs on Topic 3: EU Competition Law and the Digital Economy: Protecting Free and Fair Competition in an Age of Technological (R)evolution. The National Rapporteur for Bulgaria is DPC senior associate and renowned competition expert Donka Stoyanova.

In the situation of a pandemic making remote work the new normal, the qualified electronic signature (QES) has become an essential tool enabling lots of people to do their jobs. Martin Zahariev, PhD offers some useful clarifications to employers in connection with the issuance of QES to their employees.

*This publication is in Bulgarian.

In his first piece for the European Audiovisual Observatory Newsletter, where he was invited to be a regular contributor, Nikola Stoychev, assisted by Christian Ivanov, summarizes the decision of the Bulgarian competition authority stating that the the introduction of quotas for Bulgarian music through amendment of the Radio and Television Act would restrict competition on the media market.

*This publication is also available in German and French.

The alarming and dynamic increase in the number of COVID-19 cases over the past few weeks has seriously raised the question of what measures could be taken in order to curb the spread of the infectious disease in the workplace. May employees be tested for COVID-19? May this be introduced by the employer as a mandatory requirement? May the staff be notified in case of a sick employee? May employers trace contact persons among staff? Do such measures contravene data protection regulations or other requirements? This analysis tries to give some useful guidelines in connection with the above questions.

*This publication is in Bulgarian.

Abstract: This analysis aims to clarify the nature of the principles of personal data processing (the Principles). To achieve this goal, the following tasks have been performed: (1) the emergence and evolution of the Principles in historical context are analyzed; (2) their content and practical significance are clarified; (3) a distinction is made between the Principles and the concept of a legal principle; (4) a comparative analysis is carried out with the laws of other countries, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act. As a result of the research, the thesis is substantiated that the Principles have the nature of legal norms of general significance and have established themselves as a kind of standard for personal data protection.

*This publication is in Bulgarian.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated digitalisation in all spheres of public life. Many companies have had to move to remote work with almost no preparation, limit their physical meetings with current and potential contractors, and switch fully or partly to electronic document turnover. Some questions were urgently raised of how one can sign remotely, so that the various business processes in the organizations would not be blocked and at the same time a certain level of legal certainty would be achieved, which would guarantee the rights and interests of those signing remotely. Although the legal framework of the electronic document and the electronic signature is not new, but has been operating in Bulgaria and the EU for years, it turned out to be insufficiently familiar and clear for most of the companies. This is the main reason for this analysis, which aims to explore the different possibilities for electronic signing of documents in the ordinary course of business of private entities.

*This publication is in Bulgarian.

Europe is facing the rise of the second Covid wave with a new series of restrictions and lockdowns. Rositsa Vasileva and her colleagues from the Meritas European Employment Group provide a useful overview of these restrictions, along with the relevant support measures, covering 14 countries.

Almost 2.5 years since GDPR became effective, many things have changed. Most importantly, the privacy-awareness has drastically increased among both companies and citizens. Find out what happened during this period in Bulgaria (key legislative changes and most noteworthy cases) in the latest report by our experts Martin Zahariev and Radoslava Makshutova.

*This publication is in Bulgarian

The Book “Enhancing the Right to be Present” elaborated within the PRESENT project addresses the direct need of training and receiving insight on the changes that are going to be incorporated in the legislation of EU Member States in order to transpose Directive (EU) 2016/343. The PRESENT partnership unites 6 partners from 6 countries (Bulgaria, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Cyprus and Portugal) with diverse focus and a wealth of expertise. The publications featured in the book address various topics concerning the right to be present at trial and the presumption of innocence in different Member States. Prof. George Dimitrov and Radoslava Makshutova were part of the Bulgarian team who contributed to the monograph with the article "The Right to be Present at Trial in Criminal Proceedings under Bulgarian Legislation."

This Country Overview of Aid Programs in Selected European Countries was prepared by IBA's Closely Held and Growing Business Enterprises Committee with the support of IBA European Regional Forum (ERF) and aims to allow lawyers around the globe to better serve their international clients – and to allow international companies to understand the specificities of national and regional programmes available in the jurisdictions in which they do business.

Zoya Todorova, Partner, and Rositsa Vasileva, Associate at Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. (DPC), have contributed to an extensive survey conducted by the International Bar Association Antitrust Committee. The survey, covering 44 jurisdictions worldwide, aimed to examine the ways in which the overnight change of the global reality affected the antitrust world, by gathering in a single document a compilation of competition agency reactions to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the emergency situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, employers face many challenges - from seeking to maintain employment and minimize losses to compliance with established anti-epidemic measures and protection of the lives and health of their employees. Martin Zahariev, PhD, examines several processing operations related to counteracting the spread of COVID-19 at the workplace and their admissibility from GDPR and Bulgarian law perspective.

*This publication is in Bulgarian

The 6th release of this useful book for IP professionals published in December 2019, features updated chapter for Bulgaria contributed by DPC's leading expert Bilyana Angelova. It contains helpful guidance on patents and utility models, copyright and trademarks, industrial designs, geographical indications, domain names and trade secrets and describes the nuances of the Bulgarian legislation.

The publication is realized in collaboration with the Center for International Legal Studies.

Abstract:

The problem of the validity of the waiver of a future right through a contractual clause has great practical importance. Bulgarian case law and legal theory are consistent in the view that the waiver of future right is void. This stance is problematic in the context of rapidly developing and complicated economic relations. If we rephrase the US Supreme Court Justice Mr Holmes: Тhis is a wrong interpretation that “no lapse of time or respectable array of opinion should make us hesitate to correct”. The law should be applied in a way that is appropriate for its time.
Bulgarian applicable substantive law does not contain a general rule stipulating that a waiver of future rights is invalid. The general legal provision which sets out the rules on invalidity of contracts does not in principle forbid the waiver of future rights (it doesn’t even mention it). However, Bulgarian law explicitly proclaims the freedom of contract as an important general principle.
It is true that there are several specific rules where, under specific circumstances, a waiver of a future right is considered invalid. Such provisions are found in various substantive and procedural regulations, such as the Civil Procedure Code, Obligations and Contracts Act, Labour Code, Consumer Protection Act, Ownership Act and others.
However, if the waiver of a future right was invalid as a general rule, why would we find so many explicit rules rendering the waiver invalid in specific cases? Indeed, there are also a number of situations where the law does treat the waiver of future rights as valid. It’s apparent that where the law explicitly states that a waiver of a future right is invalid, it’s just an example of an exception to the general rule – that a waiver of future rights is admissible.
The general invalidity of the waiver of a future right concept can easily be tested by applying a specific legal institute. If we take the set-off, in some cases the debtor may be interested in maintaining its receivable due to the fact that set-off may be less favourable to it (for example, if its receivable bears interest). Under the Bulgarian law, the set-off takes effect from the moment the set-off was possible. Thus, when a set-off statement is issued, the interest would be discharged. Therefore, the party whose receivable bears interest will benefit from introducing a contractual clause which disallows the right to set-off.
Many waiver of a future right clauses can be found in public-private partnership contracts (e.g. Article 31.1 of the Sofia Airport Concession Agreement). Such clauses are essential for the viability of the modern forms of public-private partnership.
In fact, the waiver of future rights is often at the heart of the contractual relationship between the parties and frequently is a part of the contractual consideration - the obligations that a party undertakes under a particular contract in order to induce the other party to the contract to undertake correlated obligations. This makes it clear that the thesis of the invalidity of the waiver of future rights does not take into account the economic needs and business purposes that underpin the contractual relations in the civil and commercial turnover.

*This article is in Bulgarian.

*This publication is in Bulgarian

Author: Emil Petrov

Comments: Martin Zahariev

*This publication is in Bulgarian

Author: Maria Dinkova

Comments: Desislava Krusteva

*This publication is in Bulgarian.

DPC is pleased to be the contributor for Bulgaria in this Second Edition of “A Global Roadmap to Personal Data Protection” put together by Meritas' law firms worldwide. Desislava Krusteva, Partner and Head of IT & Data Protection practice at DPC, highlights recent privacy developments in the country on page 74-75.

*This publication is in Bulgarian.

*This publication is in Bulgarian.

*The interview is in Bulgarian

Zoya Todorova comments the decision of the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition to carry out an in-depth study of the proposed acquisition of CEZ' business in Bulgaria by Eurohold in the context of the EU guidance and practice regarding non-horizontal mergers

* The interview is in Bulgarian

BG/EN

Author: Caroline Simson

Comments: Martin Zahariev

Author: Emil Petrov

Comments: Martin Zahariev

*This publication is in Bulgarian.

*This publication is in Bulgarian

*This publication is in Bulgarian

*This publication is in Bulgarian

*This publication is in Bulgarian

Author: Emil Petrov

Comments: Martin Zahariev

*This publication is in Bulgarian.

Author: Maria Dimcheva

Comments: Desislava Krusteva

*This publication is in Bulgarian

*This publication is in Bulgarian.