The ABA's anti-corruption program provided commentary and analysis to a variety of non-governmental and governmental organizations involved in combating corruption and joined with local partners to sponsor a series of public hearings on key corruption-related topics such as procurement law reform, magistrate's immunity and the highly debated Ombudsman draft laws. The ABA also provided an advocacy grant and faculty support to the nongovernmental organization Access to Information to conduct a series of training programs for hundreds of municipal officials and attorneys across Bulgaria on implementing the country's Access to Information Act. Read More »»

The criminal law reform program in Bulgaria has focused on legislative reform and training to combat cybercrime, prosecutorial reform and assistance to combat money laundering. The ABA's criminal law reform program has also advised in the process of drafting and implementing modern criminal justice legislation, conducted comprehensive training programs for prosecutors, judges, investigators and defense attorneys, and worked to strengthen the operation of criminal justice institutions, such as prosecutors' offices, investigative bodies and professional associations. Read More »»

Bulgaria is the only country so far that has been assessed three times by the ABA's Judicial Reform Index (JRI). The first assessment occurred in 2002, and the most recent one was published in June 2006. (Please view the full list of JRI publications for Bulgaria.) The JRIs attracted extensive media coverage and helped to foster a public dialogue on the issues highlighted. Read More »»

The ABA's work on legal education reform aimed to increase clinical legal education opportunities at Bulgarian law faculties and, in turn, increase access to legal services among disadvantaged groups. To this end, the ABA worked closely with the Legal Clinic Foundation, which operates two legal clinics in the city of Rousse that focus on family and succession law and administrative law and procedure, as well as a branch in Sofia that works on civil law matters.Bourgas Law School recently adopted the clinical teaching model as well as the Law Faculty at the University in Veliko Turnovo, both of which also receive financial assistance from the ABA. Moreover, the ABA provided technical equipment and legal literature to the law clinic at Varna Free University. Through the ABA's clinical program more than 100 students were trained and more than 1,000 clients provided legal assistance. Read More »»