INTRODUCTION

This chapter examines the idiosyncrasies of tort and unjust enrichment in Bulgarian law. The rules on tort and unjust enrichment in the Law on Obligations and Contracts (LOC) illustrate the creative compilatory spirit of the Bulgarian legislator. Yet patchworks naturally result in incoherence and lacunas. The significant overlap between tort and other branches of Bulgarian law, which was not carefully considered by legislators, made the landscape of tort even rougher. Unsurprisingly, Bulgaria’s Supreme Court and, subsequently, Bulgaria’s Supreme Court of Cassation have intervened with special decrees or decisions on interpretation to fill gaps in both tort and unjust enrichment. Even today, the realms of tort and unjust enrichment may appear messy because of internal ambiguities and a plethora of patches in the form of jurisprudential solutions.

THE HAZY REALM OF TORT

In England, law students study contract, tort, and unjust enrichment in separate classes. In Bulgaria, like in other continental systems, students normally take one class on the law of obligations. This class, however, is almost entirely focused on contract law. Because of the interrelation between tort and other areas of law, such as criminal, employment, administrative law, etc, the classes on the law of obligations usually focus on the grey areas between tort and contract, such as pre-contractual liability, or discuss general theory of civil liability. Law students are taught in abstract terms the elements necessary to hold someone liable in tort – unlawful behaviour (fault), damage, and a causal link between the faulty behaviour and the damage. However, they do not explore the interplay between tort and other areas of law. Often, they do not even examine case law. Meanwhile, classes in other disciplines often ignore their relationship with tort.

In Bulgarian law, criminal and civil liability frequently go hand in hand. Bulgarian law distinguishes between public crimes, private crimes, and public – private crimes. Public crimes are prosecuted by the competent state authority – namely, Bulgaria’s Prosecutor’s Office. A victim of a public crime has two pathways to obtain compensation.