For decades foreign legal materials have been a collecting priority at the Library of Congress, and publications from Bulgaria are no exception. The Law Library of Congress has an extensive collection of Bulgarian laws, court decisions, commentaries, and a complete run of Durzhaven vestnik [Official gazette], from 1879 to the present day. The Law Library also has many books and studies on various legal topics relating to Bulgaria, recent works about Bulgaria's entry into the European Union, and long runs of legal periodicals such as Pravna misul [Legal thought], Advokatski pregled [Legal review], and Pravo [Law], and various Riesheniia [Decisions] from the supreme appellate courts beginning in the 1880s.
In 1894 when the Library of Congress received its first Bulgarian volumes via international exchange, issues of Durzhaven vestnik were included. Continuing the effort to obtain more legal materials from Bulgaria and around the world, the Library did not just rely on publications exchanges, but it also sought help from the State Department and foreign legal experts, resulting in additional acquisitions of legal publications from Bulgaria in 1906, 1928, and 1932. After World War II, acquisitions via exchange and/or purchase from Bulgaria became systematic and even included retrospective materials, resulting in the comprehensive collection of today.
In addition to collecting works on Bulgarian law, the Law Library has published a number of works related to some legal aspect of Bulgarian law such as civil aviation law, investor visas, and foreign adoption policies. Freely available legal reports and other resources from or about Bulgaria from the Law Library of Congress are linked in the guide to Bulgarian online legal resources described below.
The Law Library of Congress contains the world’s largest collection of law books and legal resources. It is a repository for the complete record of American law and holds foreign law materials covering all major national, state, and equivalent jurisdictions. In 1832, the Law Library was officially established to provide the United States Congress and Supreme Court with access to current and accurate legal research materials. Over time, our mission was expanded to include other branches of the U.S. Government, the public, and the global legal community. This evolving mission is supported by a collection of around three million volumes and brings together the expertise of approximately 100 lawyers, librarians, other professionals, and support staff who provide legal reference, research, and analysis using the Law Library’s collection. We also draw upon the collections and expertise of our colleagues throughout the Library of Congress.