Source: https://www.policinglaw.info/country/bulgaria
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 02:32:32+00:00

Document:
In 2014, Bulgaria adopted new law on police use of force to better comply with international law.
According to Bulgaria's 1991 Constitution, the State shall be held liable for any damages caused by unlawful acts or actions on the part of its agencies and officials.Art. 7, 1991 Constitution.Everyone shall have the right to life. Any attempt upon a human life shall be punished as a most severe crime.Art. 28, 1991 Constitution.No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.Art. 29(1), 1991 Constitution.
Use of force by law enforcement officials is generally regulated by the 2014 Ministry of Interior Act (especially Articles 85-88).
(10) Measures to ensure personal safety.
The use of physical force and auxiliary means shall be regulated via ordinance of the Minister of Interior.
(1) Physical force and assisting devices shall be used after a warning has been given except in case of a sudden assault and in hostage-release operations.
(2) The use of physical force and assisting devices shall be contingent upon the particular situation, the nature of the violation of the public order, and the individual characteristics of the offender.
(3) In the cases enumerated in Article 85, the police authorities shall use only the absolutely necessary force.
(4) When using physical force and auxiliary means, the police authorities shall take all measures to protect the life and health of the persons against whom they are directed.
(5) The use of physical force and auxiliary means shall cease immediately upon attainment of its legitimate purpose.
(6) It is forbidden to use physical force and auxiliary means against individuals who are visibly below 14 years of age or pregnant women. This prohibition does not apply in cases of mass disorder when all other means have been exhausted.
(7) It is forbidden to use potentially lethal force to detain or prevent the escape of a person carrying out or having carried out a non-violent act if that person does not pose a danger to the life and health of another.
(e) when taking measures to ensure personal safety under Article 75(2).
(2) When using weapons, the police authorities shall do everything in their power to preserve the life of the person against whom they are directed and not endanger the life and health of others.
(7) Following the use of weapons, the police authorities draw up a report.
The planning and control of the use of physical force, auxiliary means, and weapons by the police authorities in the cases under Articles 85-87 includes measures to achieve the legitimate objective with minimal risk to the life and health of citizens.
There are no specific provisions in national law governing accountability for potentially unlawful use of force by police or other law enforcement agencies. In its 2017 Concluding Observations on Bulgaria's sixth periodic report on its compliance with CAT, the Committee against Torture expressed continuing concern about reports that:Committee against Torture, Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Bulgaria, UN doc. CAT/C/BGR/CO/6, 15 December 2017, §11(c) and (d).
That police officers who use force unlawfully against persons who have been arrested and detained are seldom prosecuted and punished and that those police officers who are found guilty of torture or ill-treatment of detained persons are punished with lenient penalties, such as fines or suspended sentences, since they are most often prosecuted only for light bodily injury.
There is no specialised body that deals with complaints against the police in Bulgaria, although the national ombudsman can take up cases of concern with the Minister of the Interior.
In its 2017 Concluding Observations on Bulgaria's sixth periodic report on its compliance with CAT, the Committee against Torture expressed continuing concern aboutCommittee against Torture, Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Bulgaria, UN doc. CAT/C/BGR/CO/6, 15 December 2017, §9(a).
The continued existence of 24-hour administrative detention, which falls outside the scope of criminal proceedings, before arrested persons detained in police stations are formally charged with a criminal offence, and during which they are questioned by the police, often without having access to a lawyer and when they are most vulnerable to abuse by law enforcement officials.
The Committee further expressed concern at reports:Committee against Torture, Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Bulgaria, UN doc. CAT/C/BGR/CO/6, 15 December 2017, §11(b).
That one out of every three persons detained in police stations is subjected to physical abuse in police stations, which may be of such severity as to amount to torture and may include beating, handcuffing to immovable objects and the use of truncheons and electrical discharge weapons, and that the rate of physical abuse against persons belonging to the Roma community is allegedly double the rate of abuse against ethnic Bulgarians.
The Grand Chamber judgment in the Nachova case in 2005 is a key decision on police use of force both for Bulgaria and across the region. The Court held that an escaping suspect (at least when he or she does not pose a grave threat to life) may not be shot "even if a failure to use lethal force may result in the opportunity to arrest the fugitive being lost".European Court of Human Rights, Nachova v. Bulgaria, Judgment (Grand Chamber), 6 July 2005, §95.
100. Such a legal framework is fundamentally deficient and falls well short of the level of protection “by law” of the right to life that is required by the Convention in present-day democratic societies in Europe….
The Court held that there had been “a general failure” by Bulgaria to comply with its obligation under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights “to secure the right to life by putting in place an appropriate legal and administrative framework on the use of force and firearms by military police”.Nachova case, §102.

References: §11
 §9
 §11
 v. 
 §95
 §102