Rehabilitation After a Criminal Conviction in Bulgaria

Rehabilitation under Bulgarian criminal law removes certain legal consequences of a conviction when the statutory requirements are met. The applicable procedure and time limit depend on the sentence, its execution, any subsequent offence and whether rehabilitation occurs by operation of law or by a court decision.

When does the period begin?

The rehabilitation period is generally linked to completion of the sentence, including the relevant effects of work credit or pardon. For full rehabilitation under Article 88a of the Criminal Code, the periods connected with the sentence and the limitation rules must be assessed for every conviction.

Several convictions

Where a person has more than one conviction, it is not sufficient to examine only the latest judgment. The required periods must have expired in relation to all convictions, and the person must not have committed a new publicly prosecutable offence punishable by imprisonment during the relevant period.

Documents and verification

The judgments, dates on which the sentences were served or otherwise extinguished, any aggregation of sentences and later criminal proceedings should be checked. The effect on a criminal-record certificate also depends on the particular form of rehabilitation.

This article is general information and does not replace advice based on the complete criminal record.

For assistance with rehabilitation or another criminal-law matter, contact attorney Mihail Tomov of the Varna Bar Association.