Bulgaria's evolving legal framework for private sector development

Abstract

Bulgaria is in the midst of a historic transformation from a planned to a market economy. The Bulgarian government is working steadily to create a legal framework in which the private sector can develop. The authors describe the current legal framework in Bulgaria in the areas of constitutional, real property, intellectual property, company, foreign investment, bankruptcy, contract, and antimology law. These areas of law define property rights, the means for exchanging property rights, and the rules for competitive market behavior - the bedrock of a legal system for a market economy. But the administrative and judicial machinery for implementing these laws is slower to develop. Laws by themselves are only paper; the legal framework comes to life only when legal and administrative institutions can enforce the laws and readily resolve the disputes they inevitably spur, and only when the public accepts that the laws are binding. Moreover, the laws by necessity provide only a general framework. Their content must be filled by more detailed regualtions and practice in individual cases, a process that takes time. The challenge of legal development is as immense as that of economic reform, and the two are inexorably intertwined.Municipal Housing and Land,Municipal Financial Management,National Governance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform