Authors: Ivan Toskov and Svetoslav Yordanov

The publication discusses how to present and use in the Republic of Bulgaria public documents issued abroad and the need of their legalization. A brief analysis is made on the procedures provided in the enacted legislation and the signed international treaties. Some recommendations about the accurate enforcement of the law are given.
The article discusses some practical problems of the present day concerning the usage of public documents issued abroad, such as power-of-attorney, contracts with notarial certification of the signatures, court deeds, official documents issued by the relevant authorities within the scope of their competence, etc. and the necessity of these being legalized. The article points out the ways such public documents can be used on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria, by means of legalization or issuance of certificate ‘Apostille’ or on the grounds of a treaty for legal assistance signed between Bulgaria and the country of issue. The authors explain that along with the enforcement of the enacted legislation a number of vicious practices are produced by state authorities and private persons, which are often in direct contradiction with the law and create lots of difficulties for the business. The article gives concrete real life examples for non-compliance with the liberalized regime for avoiding the legalization procedures of public documents. The authors give recommendations regarding how to overcome the existing problems related to using public documents in Bulgaria issued abroad.
You can download the full text of the article here.