The judicial system in Bulgaria is inefficient. This is a waste of time and money for citizens and businesses looking to protect their rights more effectively. In small settlements, citizens do not have a good legal culture and do not know alternative methods for resolving legal disputes. Our goal is to increase the legal culture of the citizens regarding the alternative ways of resolving disputes (mediation, out-of-court settlement and arbitration), as well as the ways of their use in Bulgaria.

Northern Bulgaria, municipality of Slivo pole

In the selected region there is a growing percentage of population of Roma origin. The lack of legal culture among this group of citizens leads to difficulties in resolving legal disputes.

The target groups of the project are:
- citizens from small settlements
- citizens with low education

1.Research and analysis of the legal framework for the ways of alternative dispute resolution and issuance of a short manual with information about them. Appropriate legal framework and judicial and extrajudicial practice will be analyzed. This will provide information on: what possibilities for alternative dispute resolution are provided in the current legislation; the practice of various alternative justice services such as mediation, out-of-court settlements and arbitration. We will print a short guide describing the different dispute resolution options, the ways in which individuals can benefit from them and the benefits of alternative dispute resolution. The manual will contain information and contact details of organizations that provide free legal services and consultations.
2.Conducting consultations with citizens - Consultations with citizens on the topic will be conducted. Consultations will be held according to a prepared schedule in a specially rented office. The consultations will be free of charge for the interested citizens and businesses, thus ensuring maximum accessibility among the public, and the established legal culture will help the sustainability and multiplication of the project results.
3.Conducting a round table on issues of civic participation and activity in the processes of formulation, implementation and monitoring of policies and legislation.

Citizens and business representatives will receive a minimum of 300 free individual or group consultations on the topic; The developed directory will provide in an accessible and clear way information on alternative dispute resolution; Increasing the legal culture of non-professionals - citizens and businesses through the developed directory; Discussing the issues and establishing contacts through the organization of the round table

Through the project we will acquaint citizens, lawyers, specialists, business representatives and representatives of the non-governmental sector about the nature of alternative ways of resolving disputes such as mediation, out-of-court agreements, arbitration, etc. - citizens will be better informed on the subject and will have the opportunity to benefit from different forms of justice; - professional organizations and specialists in the field of the judiciary will have the opportunity to exchange ideas, discuss problems and will be able to defend their interests more fully; - the non-governmental sector and professional organizations will be able to formulate more precise and broader proposals to the public and state bodies, as well as to pursue goals of public interest more effectively.

Manager - Georgi Mihov - member of the Management Board of the Association. Experience as a Juror from 2015 -; social worker under the project "Right to childhood - integrated social services for children from the Municipality of Slivo Pole from 0 to 7 years and their families"; solid experience as a facilitator and trainer.
Technical assistant-Vladimira Ivanova - member of the association "Multi Act". Project manager of the project "Active youth for active community centers" Work in the Center for Vocational Training in Ruse. We as an association have several small initiatives implemented in the municipality of Slivo Pole. We have met with local citizens and are familiar with the specifics of the area.
We plan to hire 3 lawyers, 1 legal mediator, 1 moderator

Office expenses - 2000
Personel costs - 14000
Travel and accomodation costs - 1800
Preparation, design and printing of a manual - 7800
Creating web site with domain and hosting - 5000
Public relations and advertising materials - 2500
Technical equipment (PC and multimedia) - 1500