In the administrative court, the burden of proving that decisions or actions of state institutions were based on relevant factual circumstances and were lawful is on state authorities.
This also means that you cannot be asked to prove or to give to the court information that the state institutions should have. The state institution has to provide you and the court with all information that is relevant for the case.
However, when you are contesting the refusal of the state body to issue a decision, you have to prove that the necessary factual and legal conditions had been in place.
In an administrative case, you have the right to submit as much evidence as you can gather, granted that your opponent is the State. It is important to remember that the court can only accept evidence that is lawfully obtained and relevant for the case.
Types of evidence
There are many types of evidence which you can use: written documents, video, audio and other data files, witness statements, the statements of an expert or other competent institution, and physical evidence. Each type of evidence must be submitted according to the procedure described in the Administrative Procedure Code.
example If you are submitting a copy of an original document to the court, its authenticity must be certified by a person who is entitled to do that.
Permissible evidence
According to the Bulgarian law, all evidence submitted to the court must be lawfully obtained, that is, according to the procedures prescribed by law. The use of evidence obtained by torture or inhumane treatment (for example, by hitting someone or threatening them) is not permissible and will violate your right to a fair trial.
Witnesses
You can ask the court to invite a witness to give a statement about the circumstances or facts that are relevant to your case. The court does not have to invite all the witnesses you have proposed. However, if the court refuses to call your witness, it has to give sufficient reasons for such refusal.
How to complain
A refusal to accept evidence cannot be appealed separately, but if you consider that the court has made a mistake by refusing to accept your evidence or call your witness, you must make that argument in your submission to the court of appeal or the court of cassation.