Institute of private international law

General information

Institute of Private International Law is a non – governmental organization set up in public interest and registered in compliance with Bulgarian legislation by Sofia City Court, Corporate Division, by virtue of Decision No 1 of November, 11th 2010, on company file No 664/2010. The corporate form of the Institute is an association.

The Institute gathers foreign and Bulgarian specialists in Private International Law – scholars, practicing lawyers and other researchers with defined interest in the area of Private International Law. The idea of setting up of a scientific center of interests in the area of Private International Law came up in the Autumn of 2007. Afterwards, the future founders of the Institute held several specialized seminars on the application of contemporary sources of European Union Private International Law and as a result a thorough commentary with practical implications has been published for the first time in Bulgaria. It is entitled “Regulation Rome I. Regulation (EC) 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations” (Sofia, CIELA Soft and Publishing, 2009, 407 pages).

Amongst the founders of the Institute and the members of the Managing Board are present specialists like – Prof. Alexander Yankov (President of the ILA – London), Prof. Ivan Vladimirov (University of National and World Economy, Bulgaria), Prof. Nikolay Natov (Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria), Prof. Michael Martinek (Saarland University – Saarbrucken, Germany), Prof. Andreas Kellerhals (Zurich University, Switzerland), Prof. Steven Plotkin (University of New Orleans, Louisiana, The USA), Prof. Evangelos Vassilakakis (University of Thessaloniki, Greece), Prof. Stephan Hobe (University of Cologne, Germany), Mr. Ivaylo Dermendjiev (attorney-at-law at Sofia Bar and leading specialist on international arbitration), Assistant Prof. PhD Boriana Musseva (Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria), PhD Yasmina Andreeva (Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria), PhD Teodora Tsenova (Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria), PhD Stanislav Yordanski (Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria), PhD Dafina Sarbinova (Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria), Assistant Prof. Vassil Pandov (Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria) and other specialists in the area of Private International Law.

In 2007 the future founders of the Institute of Private International Law realized that therewas the clear trend of increased legal materials in Private International Law and the absence of these materials in Bulgaria. On the other handthe number of procedural and substantive private relationships with cross border implications was increasing constantly. One cause of the problem is the proper application of the rules of Private International Law in the EU member states – the EU regulations and directives, international sources, national legislation. This has created a “labyrinth” of rules which effect the uniform enforcement of the rules of Private International Law. Thus, the Institute's goals are to assist in establishing the applicable sources of law, quality training of lawyers, professors, judges with the ability to properly interpret and apply the respective constituent elements for a normative outcome. In the new realities of positive Private International Law the aims of the Institute are as follows:

promoting and popularizing the principles of Private International Law with regards to the development of democratic and just international relations based on the comity of nations and on the international harmony of decisions;
stressing the regulatory function of Private International Law for substantive and procedural private international relations;
assisting the development of civil society by explaining the theoretical aspects and affirming the practical significance of Private International Law;
informing Bulgarian society and state authorities about the achievements of Bulgarian and foreign science and practice in the area of Private International Law;
maintaining the democratic tendencies in national political development and promoting international traditions and values in society;
clarifying the multiple spheres of international cooperation in general, as well as with regards to European integration;
researching new tendencies in the development of different communities and of the European Union.

Prior to its formal creation as well as afterwards the Institute of Private International law engaged in a number of activities that were consistent with its aims and objectives. The following are a list of events implemented in the field of Private International Law:

– organizing seminars and conferences in the area of Private International Law in the years from 2008till 2013 on most current topics in the science and practice of Private International Law, even in the ambit of the European Union, like:

“Part Seven of new Bulgarian Civil Procedure Code in the context of new sources of EU Private International Law” – seminar held in 2008 in the city of Sofia, Bulgaria – Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski;
“Regulation Rome I” – seminar held in Pamporovo, Bulgaria, in June – July 2009;
“Regulation Brussels I” - seminar held in Pamporovo, Bulgaria, in June – July 2010;
“The International Treaty in Private International Law“ – a Conference held together with the Department of International Law and International relations at the Faculty of Law of the St Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, December 2012. The Conference was to celebrate the 120-th anniversary of the Faculty of Law.

–participating in scientific and research projects in Bulgaria as well as abroad – the Institute is beneficiary party on several EU projects. Amongst the projects assignors are the European Commission – Directorate General Justice and national authorities together with institutions and Universities from all EU Member-states ;

–drafting and publishing of scientific works in Private International Law – as a result of the seminars held to date, the members of the Institute have drafted two complete commentaries on applicable sources of EU Private International Law, whereby the first one entitled“Regulation Rome I. Regulation (EC) 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations”(in Bulgarian) waspublished by CIELA Soft and Publishing, Sofia, in 2009, and the second one entitled “Regulation Brussels I. Commentary” (in Bulgarian) was published in 2012 by the same publisher;

– conducting educational activities and specialized legal training – in the month of June 2011 the Institute has provided to practicing lawyers of Sofia Municipality – Department “Architecture and Development”, specialized training on the EU Private International Law.

– In 2013-2014 the Institute together with the Humanitarian Scientific Complex “Alma Mater” at the St Kliment Ohridsky University of Sofia works on two projects that shall be finalized by publishing of Commentary of Brussels II bis Regulation and of a monograph on Law of International Trade

The Bulgarian Institute of Private International law is an active, dynamic and functional organization of law professors, lawyers and judges who have an academic and practical interest in this topic. They are motivated to harmonize and establish reasonable rules of law in this area of law and have developed partnerships with similar institutions in Greece, Italy, Spain, Malta, Germany, The UK, Switzerland, Turkey, The USA and other countries from the EU and outside. The leadership in this initiative is Prof. Nikolay Natov the President of the Board of Governors.