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Criminal penalties in Bulgaria

Checked in October 2026 against the Наказателен кодекс (Criminal Code of Bulgaria), consolidated text on Lex.bg with amendments up to ДВ no. 55 of 2026, read in Bulgarian.

These are statutory ranges for a first offence, from the least to the most the law allows. A court decides the actual sentence in each case. We read the code in its original language and give the offences in plain English, with the legal term where it helps. For anything that matters, rely on the code itself. Not legal advice.

How Bulgaria sets penalties

  • Bulgaria's Criminal Code states most penalties as 'лишаване от свобода от три до десет години' (deprivation of liberty from three to ten years) or as a maximum ('до осем години', up to eight years). A court may impose less than a stated maximum. Where the Code states a minimum, the court may go below it only through the general rules on mitigation (arts. 55 and 56), which were not read.
  • The heaviest punishments are life imprisonment and life imprisonment without substitution. The second means the sentence cannot be replaced by a fixed term. Aggravated murder (art. 116) can attract either.
  • Murder has a basic form (art. 115, 10 to 20 years) and an aggravated form (art. 116, 15 to 20 years, life, or life without substitution) with a long list of aggravating circumstances. This table maps the aggravated form to the 'first degree' row and the basic form to the 'second degree' row.
  • Property offences are graded by circumstances (for example, theft with breaking in, or in a particularly large amount) rather than by money value alone.
  • This text was read on Lex.bg, a commercial legal database, and not on the State Gazette's own site, which did not load here. It should be confirmed against the official text before being relied on. Fines are left out because the Code's lev amounts were affected by Bulgaria's adoption of the euro on 1 January 2026.

Death penalty: No. The most serious punishments in the Criminal Code are life imprisonment and 'life imprisonment without substitution' (доживотен затвор без замяна), set for aggravated murder (art. 116).

Read the Bulgaria legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →

First-degree murder

15 to 20 years, life, or life without substitution (aggravated murder)

Aggravated murder (art. 116) covers, among others, a killing of an official or a member of the public on duty, of a parent or child, of a pregnant woman, a child or more than one person, of a helpless person, by means dangerous to many or with particular cruelty, in the context of domestic violence, for gain, or to commit or conceal another crime. Killing a judge, prosecutor, investigator, police officer and certain other officials on duty carries 20 to 30 years, life, or life without substitution (art. 116(2)).

Second-degree murder

10 to 20 years

Voluntary manslaughter

Up to 5 years (excess of self-defence); 1 to 8 years (killing in strong agitation)

Bulgaria has no offence called manslaughter. The nearest are killing in a state of strong agitation provoked by the victim's violence, grave insult or slander or another unlawful act (art. 118) and killing in excess of the limits of necessary defence (art. 119). Causing death by negligence in a dangerous occupation or activity (art. 123) is a lesser offence, with 1 to 6 years.

Robbery

3 to 10 years (robbery); 5 to 15 years (aggravated); 15 to 20 years or life (robbery with death or killing)

Burglary

Up to 8 years (theft); 1 to 10 years (theft with breaking in, among other aggravations)

Bulgaria has no separate offence of burglary. Taking another's movable thing is theft (art. 194), and the 1 to 10 year range applies where the theft is committed by breaking down, damaging or undermining barriers firmly built to protect persons or property, and in other listed circumstances (art. 195).

Arson

1 to 8 years (arson); 3 to 10 years (danger to life or other property); 5 to 15 years (death)

Aggravated assault

Up to 2 years (light bodily injury); up to 6 years (moderate); 3 to 10 years (serious)

Bulgaria grades bodily injury by severity. Light injury (art. 130) includes any impairment of health. Moderate injury (art. 129) includes a lasting weakening of sight or hearing or lasting difficulty in speech or movement, a broken jaw, facial disfigurement and other listed harm. Serious injury (art. 128) includes prolonged disorder of consciousness, permanent blindness or deafness, loss of speech, loss of the ability to have children, loss of a kidney, loss of a limb and other listed harm.

Rape and sexual assault

2 to 8 years (rape); 3 to 10 years (aggravated); 3 to 15 years (most serious)

The text read defines rape as sexual intercourse with a woman who is unable to defend herself and does not consent, who is coerced by force or threat, or who is brought into a helpless state (art. 152(1)). The Code has other provisions for sexual acts against other victims, which were not read.

Kidnapping

3 to 10 years (abduction); 7 to 15 years (armed, by several persons, or a minor); 10 to 20 years or life (repeat, or serious consequences)

Embezzlement

Up to 8 years (embezzlement by an official); 1 to 10 years (aggravated)

Art. 201 covers an official who appropriates money, things or other valuables handed to them in that capacity or entrusted to them to keep or manage. Embezzlement by a person who is not an official is punished under arts. 206 and following, which were not read for this table.

Forgery

Up to 3 years (forging an official document)

Art. 308 punishes making a false official document or altering the content of one, with the aim of using it. Higher ranges apply to certain categories, such as certificates of inheritance, civil status records and notarial deeds (art. 308(2)). Forgery of a private document was not read for this table.

Drunk driving, first offence

1 to 3 years (blood alcohol over 1.2 per mille); a fine is added

Driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration over 1.2 per mille is a crime (art. 343б(1)): 1 to 3 years of deprivation of liberty, plus a fine. Driving after using narcotic substances is punished the same way (art. 343б(3)). A repeat offence after a conviction carries 1 to 5 years. Lower concentrations are dealt with as administrative offences outside the Criminal Code and were not read.

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