This legal alert sets out some changes made to the extension and suspension of various statutory terms according to the Amending and Supplementing Act to the State of Emergency Act adopted on April 9th, 2020.
The initial terms extension rule under the State of Emergency Act (March 23rd, 2020) stipulated that statutory terms specified in the Act are to be extended by 1-month as of the State of Emergency Termination. A number of exceptions were, however, introduced by the Amending and Supplementing Act and shall be considered by the companies as these exceptions may affect their business activities and projects in Bulgaria. For instance, that extension of terms does not apply to procedures under:
It is to be taken into account that the terms have been resumed.
Further, the Amending and Supplementing Act explicitly lists specific categories of court proceedings, whose terms shall not be considered suspended for the duration of the state of emergency: Those are proceedings under:
It is to be noted that the court proceedings, listed in the Act, will be heard even in the state of emergency.
The rule on suspension of the terms for executing instructions given by an administrative authority to parties in administrative proceedings is now repealed. The terms are running, with the exception of proceedings under the European Structural and Investment Funds Management Act.
The Amending and Supplementing Act explicitly indicates, moreover, that the time-limits under the Bulgarian Markets of Financial Instruments Act, the Bulgarian Public Offering of Securities Act, the Bulgarian Activity of Collective Investment Schemes and other collective investment enterprises acts, the Bulgarian Special Investment Purpose Companies Act, the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission Act, the Bulgarian Insurance Code and Part Two of the Bulgarian Social Security Code, are not amended (i.e. terms are running), except in the cases explicitly stated in the Act.
The information provided is not exhaustive and it is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Should you need more detailed additional information and analysis in view of your specific cases please do not hesitate to contact us.
