Director, Law Program
E-mail Dr. Maria Yordanova at: maria.yordanova(at)online(dot)bg ll Hi-res Photo
Education
PhD in Law, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
Biography
Dr. Maria Yordanova joined the CSD in the late 1998 and has since directed the CSD Law Program. She has led the Center’s law drafting efforts aimed at approximation of Bulgarian legislation to acquis communautaire and modernising judiciary, as well at establishing and supporting contacts between the Bulgarian legal community and government agencies. Other areas of Dr. Yordanova's specialization include promotion of the EU standards in human rights protection through introduction of the ombudsman institution in Bulgaria and development of the legal and strategic framework of anti-corruption for Bulgaria, including regional cooperation. She is member of CSD’s task forces on electronic signature and on registration reform and has worked on the Law on the Electronic Document and the Electronic Signature, the Law on the Commercial Register and legal commentaries on the two laws. She has coordinated a number of projects in the area of human rights, justice, liberty and security, several research initiatives to improve prison conditions and rights of victims of crimes, as well as studies on public confidence in the criminal justice system. In the period 1999-2003 she was coordinator of the Judicial Reform Initiative for Bulgaria. Since 2008, she is the Center’s representative in the Fundamental Rights Platform of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and in the period 2008-2012 - Member of the Board of Advisors of International Development Law Organization (IDLO). She is also Member of the Advisory Group to the Asia-Europe Foundation’s Asia-Europe Democratization and Justice Series.
Previously, she was Assistant Professor on Comparative Constitutional Law and Systems at the University of National and World Economy in Sofia and senior legal advisor at the United Bulgarian Bank Ltd.
Research Focus
Comparative constitutional law, electronic commerce and electronic signature, commercial and banking law, human rights protection and introduction of the ombudsman institution, judicial reform, countering orginised crime, corruption and new forms of crime.
Selected Publications
Report on self-regulation and other non-legislative practices against cybercrime (author). – In: FIDUCIA – New European Crimes and Trust-based Policy, Volume 3, 2015
Report and factsheets on prevalence of cybercrimes and related enforcement activity (co-author). – In: FIDUCIA – New European Crimes and Trust-based Policy, Volume 2, 2014
Review of existing efforts to describe trends at European level (co-author). – In: FIDUCIA – New European Crimes and Trust-based Policy, Volume 1, 2013
Challenges before Victims’ Protection in Bulgaria in View of Harmonising Protection Frameworks throughout the European Union (co-author) – In: Wilinski, P. and Karlik, P. (eds). Improving Protection of Victims’ Rights: Access to Legal Aid, Poznan: Adam Mickiewicz University, 2014
Penitentiary Policy and System in the Republic of Bulgaria (co-author) , Center for the Study of Democracy, 2011
Review of Need: Indicators of Public Confidence in Criminal Justice for Policy Assessment (co-editor), European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control affiliated with the United Nations (HEUNI), 2009
Reinforcing Criminal Justice in Border Districts (co-author) , Center for the Study of Democracy, 2007
Commentary on the Law on the Commercial Register (co-author), Center for the Study of Democracy, 2007
Judicial Reform: The Prosecution Office and Investigation Authorities in the Context of EU Membership (co-author), Center for the Study of Democracy, 2005
The Courts, Prosecution and Investigation in the EU Member States and Accession Countries (co-author), Center for the Study of Democracy, 2005
Electronic Document and Electronic Signature. Legal framework (co-author and author of introduction), Center for the Study of Democracy/Ciela Soft and Publishing, 2004
Ombudsman Institution in Europe and Bulgaria: Legal Nature and Practice (co-author) , Center for the Study of Democracy, 2004
The Ombudsman Institution in Europe and Bulgaria. Handbook (author of introduction), Center for the Study of
Democracy, 2003
Contemporary Political Systems (author), 1991
Languages
English, German, Spanish, Russian, French
