How to protect myself against discrimination?

Updated on 05/03/2024

What is discrimination?

Discrimination is when someone is treating you unfairly or differently because of your characteristics like race, gender, age, religion, or disability. It can happen in many areas of life, such as at school, work, or in public places. Discrimination is harmful because it denies people equal opportunities and rights only based on who they are.

What can I do if I am a victim of discrimination?

1) File a complaint to the Commission for Protection against Discrimination (CPD)

You can file a written complaint to the CPD. If the complaint is written in a foreign language, it should also be accompanied by a Bulgarian translation. You can find an example on this link.

Your written complaint must contain:

your full name;
your address, where you could be found;
your contact information – phone number and email.
detailed description of what, when, why, how with the involvement of whom happened;
If it is possible, describe the offender in as much details as you can including their names and personal information, address, contacts etc.
If you have witnesses, list them in your complaint with their full names, personal identification number (the so-called EGN or LNCH) and their contact details.
what you want from the commission;
date and your signature.

On the website of the CPD you can find the addresses and contact information of the regional offices of the CPD where you can file your complaint.

Important! Anonymous complaints will not be reviewed by the CPD.

You can also submit a signal even if you are not the victim of discrimination, but you witnessed such actions. Your signal needs to contain the above-mentioned elements.

You need to attach to your complaint/signal:

A declaration that at the time of filing the complaint, there is no court case filed with the same subject between the same parties. You download an example declaration on this link.
written and other evidence in support of the allegations in the complaint/signal. If you are submitting copies they need to be certified by a notary.
power of attorney, when the complaint is submitted by your lawyer;

REQUEST LEGAL ASSISTANCE

FINDING A GOOD LAWYER

Is there a deadline to submit a complaint to the CPD?

You can file a complaint no later than 3 years after the discriminatory actions happened. However, if you missed this deadline you can still file an application at the regional court (see section 2 below).

Do I need to pay a fee?

No. The procedure is free of charge.

What happens after I submit my complaint?

The CPD CAN issue a decision with which it:

establishes the committed violation;
identifies the offender and the affected person;
determines the type and amount of the sanction for the offender;
applies coercive administrative measures against the offender to stop the discriminatory actions and gives mandatory instructions to be fulfilled in a specific time;

The CPD not only applies these measures but also monitors if the offender complies with them. In cases of non-compliance with the mandatory prescriptions The CPD can send a report with proposals for taking appropriate actions against the offender to the relevant state and municipal authorities.

finds that no violation of the law has been committed and dismisses the appeal.

Important! The CPD CANNOT award compensation for the damages caused to you as a result of the discrimination. Only the court can do that.

If the CPD finds that there is a case pending before a court for the same dispute, the CPT will not initiate proceedings.

2) File an application at the regional court

For this we advise you to seek the help of a specialized lawyer to assist you prepare the application.

REQUEST LEGAL ASSISTANCE

FINDING A GOOD LAWYER

You can ask the court to:

establish the committed violation;
order the person who discriminated against you to discontinue their actions, and refrain from doing discriminatory actions against you in the future. In this case, there should not be a decision of the CPD already establishing the violation.
rule for compensation for the damage caused to you as a result of the discrimination. In this case, there must already be a final decision of the CPD or of the court establishing that there was a violation.

Is there a deadline to submit a complaint to the court?

You can file a complaint no later than 5 years after the discriminatory actions happened.

Do I need to pay a fee?

No, you do not need to pay any fees.

3) File a complaint to the Bulgarian Ombudsperson

You can contact the Ombudsperson with a complaint or report against discrimination by:

state and municipal authorities and their administrations;
persons who provide public services, such as heating, electricity, telecommunications, water and sewerage services, education, healthcare, etc.
the administration of the judiciary - for example, when court proceedings are unjustifiably delayed and pending for years.

You can file your complaint online, via the form on the official webpage of the Ombudsperson.

Your complaint needs to contain:

your full name;
your address, where you could be found;
your contact information – phone number and email.
detailed description of what, when, why, how with the involvement of whom happened.
If it is possible, describe the offender in as many details as you can including their names and personal information, address, contacts etc.
If you have witnesses, list them in your complaint with their full names, personal identification number (the so-called EGN or LNCH) and their contact details.
Information as to whether the same case is pending before CPD, a court or prosecutor's office at the time the complaint is filed, and whether there have been any prior CPD or court hearings on the matter.
What kind of intervention you want from the Ombudperson
Copies of documents proving the violation and/or the refusal of other governmental authorities to resolve the matter, if any.

If you file an anonymous complaint, or your complaint is about offences committed more than 2 years ago, the Ombudperson will not review your complaint.

What can I do if I am a victim of a hate crime?

A hate crime is a crime committed against someone because of their ethnic origin, nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation or political beliefs. It can be, for example, in the form of physical violence or property damage.

A hate crime is a criminal offence in Bulgaria, and perpetrators receive stricter punishments than those who commit a regular crime. Punishment includes imprisonment from 1 to 4 years, a fine of 5,000 to 10,000 leva, and a public announcement of the crime in the local newspaper or municipality website.

Using the media to disseminate or to provoke discrimination, violence or hatred on the grounds of race, nationality, ethnic origin or sexual orientation is also a crime.

You can find more information on how to report hate crimes in this article:

Reporting a hate crime in Bulgaria

Log in to post comments

Note:
The Refugeelight.bg platform is funded by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Rescue Committee (IRC). However, UNHCR and IRC bear no responsibility for the content hosted on Refugeelight.bg, as it is solely operated by the Foundation for Access to Right (FAR). It is important to note that FAR prepares information in both English and Bulgarian, but it does not guarantee the quality of translations into other languages.

This platform aims to provide information to asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants in Bulgaria. It should not be considered exhaustive and does not substitute the need for legal advice or consultation with experts in the field. The platform's content was last comprehensively updated in 2023, with individual articles receiving updates marked with their respective dates.

All copyrights and other elements considered intellectual property that are published at Refugeelight.bg are reserved by the Foundation for Access to Rights- FAR. You are not allowed to copy, reproduce, republish, modify, compile, adapt, download, distribute or use in public any part of Refugeelight.bg in any way for commercial purposes without the express written agreement of FAR.

You may use the content of Refugeelight.bg for personal and non-commercial purposes, including when publishing content on the Internet, provided that you include a link/reference to the relevant page of Refugeelight.bg on which the quoted content is published. If any changes are made, they must be indicated when quoting.

Gratitude

The Foundation for Access to Rights expresses its deepest gratitude to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the European Programme for Migration and Integration (EPIM), the Sigrid Rausing Trust and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for the support in establishing and maintaining this platform over the years.