Amendments to the Civil Procedure Code passed first reading in Parliament.

The amendments envisage that the Civil Procedure Code will include the European Small Claims Procedure and Payment Order. There will be internal rules of procedure on the implementation of the Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance. The amendments involve changing the scope of application regarding small claims, specifying the provision for reviewing a court decision and granting a period of 30 days for appealing to the Supreme Court of Cassation. The European Payment Order Procedure creates a specific provision in the Civil Procedure Code, which guarantees the right of a defendant to ask the Supreme Court of Cassation to review the European Payment Order under the terms of a European regulation.

The bill also drafts rules of procedure on the implementation of the Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, adopted by the Hague Conference on international private law. The Convention is effective in Bulgaria as of 1 August 2014 and aims to ensure effective recovery of child support and other family maintenance regardless of the place where the obligation for child support has arisen or is enforced. The Convention provisions aim to create conditions for real recovery of support, access to procedures for its recognition, enforcement and appeal.