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National Student Competition in Criminal Justice Sciences will be held at Varna Free University
16 April 2026
On April 4th, 2026, on the eve of the Bulgarian Constitution Day, Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar” will host the National Student Competition in Criminal Law. The organizers of the initiative are the Lawyer’s Club Prof. Tamara Hinova at the Student Council and the Faculty of Law at the university. For the second consecutive year, Varna Free University welcomes participants in the prestigious academic forum, which is aimed at the professional development of future lawyers and strengthens academic traditions in legal education.
This year, 11 student teams from five universities will participate in the competition:
► University of National and World Economy;
►University of Veliko Turnovo St Cyril and St. Methodius;
► "Angel Kanchev" University of Ruse;
► South-West University “Neofit Rilski”;
► Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar”.
Student teams will compete in solving cases in the field of substantive and procedural criminal law. The format of the competition includes practical tasks that require in-depth analysis, a reasoned legal position and presentation of decisions to the jury. It will be chaired by Prof. Dr. Lazar Gruev – a prominent Bulgarian lawyer and university lecturer, member of the Constitutional Court (2003–2007) and Chairman of the Supreme Court of Cassation (2007–2014). The jury will also include a judge and a prosecutor, as well as two habilitated lecturers (selected by lot).
The competition will be held in two rounds. In the first round, participants will present an analysis and legal qualification of a case within 60 min, after which they will present their solution to the jury. The six best-performing teams will be admitted to the second round, which will prepare a draft resolution and a reasoned solution on a case in criminal procedure law.
The teams ranked in the first three places will receive diplomas and awards from Varna Free University "Chernorizets Hrabar", as well as prizes from the competition partners. Each participant will receive a certificate of participation.
The main goal of the initiative is related to the development and upgrading of legal culture, the opportunity to present the achieved knowledge in the field of criminal law, supporting academic activity and creating an environment for the exchange of ideas between law students from different universities.
The competition is being held for the second consecutive year at the initiative of the Student Council of Varna Free University. Last year's edition engaged teams from six universities. The team of Varna Free University, chaired by Vanessa Dragneva, ranked second, the team from the University of Veliko Turnovo St Cyril and St. Methodius was first, and the team of South-West University came third.