BulgariaConsumer Protection Act, Arts. 130 to 142, Liability for Damage Caused by a Defect in a Good (Directive 85/374/EEC)
Закон за защита на потребителите (ЗЗП, Zakon za zashtita na potrebitelite), чл. 130-142
In force since .
A product liability rule binding private bodies.
- Private right of action
- Yes
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
As of .
What it requires
- The Act treats a good as any movable thing, part of another thing or not, and treats electricity as a good; it is not settled whether that reaches software supplied on its own (Art. 130(2)).
- If you produce finished goods, raw materials or components in the course of business, or present yourself as the producer by putting your name, trade mark or another distinguishing mark on a good, you answer for the damage a defect in the good causes, whether or not you were at fault (Arts. 130(3) and 133(1)).
- If you import goods into the European Union in the course of business for sale, hire, leasing or another form of distribution, you answer as the producer (Art. 130(3)).
- If the producer, or the person who brought the good into the European Union, cannot be identified, you answer as the distributor or trader unless within 14 days you give the injured person the name and address of the producer, the importer or the person who supplied the good to you, and you cannot refer the injured person to a person outside Bulgaria (Art. 134).
- You answer even where you made the good in line with existing standards and good practice, or an administrative authority permitted it to be put into circulation (Art. 133(2)).
- Offer the safety that can generally be expected in normal use, judged by all the circumstances, including how you present the good, your advertising and the information you give, and when you put the good into circulation (Art. 132(1)).
- Be able to prove one of the defenses: that you did not put the good into circulation; that the defect probably did not exist when you did, or appeared later; that you did not make it for sale or distribution with a commercial purpose or in your professional activity; that the defect is due to the good's conformity with mandatory requirements set by public authorities; or that the state of scientific and technical knowledge then did not allow the defect to be found. A component producer may instead prove that the defect is due to the design of the good it is built into or to the instructions of its producer (Art. 137).
- If several persons answer for the same damage, each is jointly liable, and the producer of a component and the person who fitted it are jointly liable (Art. 135).
- Do not rely on an act or omission of a third party to reduce your liability, and do not rely on a contract term to release or limit your liability to the injured person: such a term is void (Arts. 138(2) and 139).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
Who enforces it
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- Does a movable thing (движима вещ) in Article 130(2) of the Consumer Protection Act, which defines a good as any movable thing and also treats electricity as a good, reach software supplied on its own?
What this law does
Article 130(1) applies the section to the liability of producers, distributors and traders for damage caused by a defect in a good they produced or supplied. Article 130(2) defines a good as any movable thing, whether or not it is part of another movable or immovable thing. Article 130(2) also treats electricity as a good.
Article 130(3) treats as a producer whoever, in the course of business, makes finished goods, raw materials or components, or presents itself as the producer by putting its name, trade mark or another distinguishing mark on the good. Article 130(3) also treats as a producer whoever, in the course of business, imports goods into the territory of the European Union for sale, hire, leasing or another form of distribution.
Article 130(4) defines a distributor or trader as any person other than a producer who puts a good into circulation. Article 131(1)(1) makes damage caused by death or personal injury compensable under the section. Article 131(1)(2) makes compensable the damage or destruction of a thing other than the defective good only where the thing is worth not less than EUR 500, is intended mainly for personal use and was used by the injured person for that purpose.
Article 131(1)(2) carries an amendment from State Gazette issue 70 of 2024 that took effect on . Article 131(2) lets the injured person claim damages for non-pecuniary harm caused by a defective good under the general rules. Article 132(1) makes a good defective when it does not meet the generally accepted expectations for its normal use, taking account of all circumstances, including its presentation and the time it was put into circulation.
Article 132(2) provides that a good is not defective only because a better good was later put into circulation. Article 133(1) makes the producer liable for the damage whether or not it is at fault. Article 133(2) keeps the producer liable even where the good was made in line with existing standards and good practice. Article 133(2) also keeps the producer liable where an administrative authority's permission led to the good being put into circulation.
Article 134(1) makes any distributor or trader of the good liable where the producer, or the person who brought the good into the European Union, cannot be identified. Article 134(2) lifts that liability where the distributor or trader gives the name and address of the producer, importer or supplier within 14 days. Article 134(3) bars the distributor or trader from referring the injured person to a person outside Bulgaria.
Article 135(1) makes persons who answer for the same damage jointly liable. Article 135(2) makes the producer of a component and the person who fitted it jointly liable for damage caused by a defect in a good included in another good. Article 136 puts on the injured person the burden of proving the damage, the defect and the causal link between them. Article 137(1) frees the producer from liability if it proves that it did not put the good into circulation.
Article 137(1) also frees the producer if it proves that the defect probably did not exist when it put the good into circulation or appeared later. Article 137(1) also frees the producer if it proves that it did not make the good for sale or another form of distribution with a commercial purpose and did not make or distribute it in its professional activity.
Article 137(1) also frees the producer if it proves that the defect is due to the good's conformity with mandatory requirements set by public authorities. Article 137(1) also frees the producer if it proves that the state of scientific and technical knowledge when the good was put into circulation did not allow the defect to be found.
Article 137(2) frees the producer of a component if it proves that the defect is due to the design of the good the component is built into or to instructions the producer of that good gave. Article 138(1) allows the producer to be freed from liability, or its liability reduced, where the injured person's own acts contributed to the damage. Article 138(2) provides that the producer's liability cannot be reduced where an act or omission of a third party contributed to the damage.
Article 139 makes void any contract clause that releases or limits the producer's liability to the injured person for damage under the section. Article 140(1) sets a limitation period of three years from the day the claimant learned, or should have learned, of the damage, the defect and the identity of the producer. Article 140(2) applies the Law on Obligations and Contracts to the suspension and interruption of that period.
Article 141 extinguishes the injured person's rights under the section ten years after the producer put the damaging good into circulation, unless the injured person has sued the producer by then. Article 142 leaves the injured person's right to compensation under other laws untouched.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app distributes a software product or ships a mobile app.