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Bulgarian juvenile crime legislative and school reforms

Updated 1 time since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

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2026-08-12 20:46 UTC → 2026-08-19 15:33 UTC · added removed

Bulgarian juvenile crime legislative and school reforms

The Bulgarian government is developing advancing legislative and organizational reforms to address rising juvenile crime and aggression. These efforts follow recent violent incidents, such as a fatal assault in Plovdiv involving several minors. Initial proposals focus on updating Central to the reform is the replacement of the Law on Combating Anti-Social Behavior of Minors and Juveniles, which officials described as outdated. Proposed noted has not seen significant updates since 1958 and is considered outdated for modern social realities. Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev stated the goal is to present a modern legal framework within weeks to improve prevention and control, addressing a sense of impunity caused by inconsistent policies. On the educational front, the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Interior are launching a joint nationwide initiative titled ‘Violence is Powerlessness’. Following a pilot in six Sofia schools, the program aims to reach at least 100,000 students in the upcoming school year. To support this, the Ministry of Education will establish 28 working groups comprising coordinators, psychologists, and pedagogical counselors. Minister of Education Georgi Valchev noted that existing programs are currently fragmented and will be consolidated into this single, targeted program to increase efficiency. Additional measures include increased monitoring by the Ministry of Interior of illegal online content that promotes violence and promoting violence, stricter penalties for distributing drugs and alcohol near schools. The government also intends to extend schools, and the extension of the National Program for the Prevention of Violence and Abuse of Children through 2030. As the strategy evolves, officials are considering restrictions on social media use for children. Minister of Labor and Social Policy Nataliya Efremova stated that while The government continues to review social media restrictions are being reviewed, they would be part of a wider package of measures. The government and is also shifting its policy focus to include toward the prevention of violence committed by minors, rather than focusing solely on children as victims, while reviewing the effectiveness of local commissions tasked with addressing delinquency. minors.

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  1. 2026-08-19 15:33 UTC Bulgarian juvenile crime legislative and school reforms
  2. 2026-08-12 20:46 UTC Bulgarian juvenile crime legislative reforms

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