Mihail Stankov, Attorney-at-law earned a PhD in Private International Law

The topic of the dissertation is “Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments of civil and commercial cases”.

Mihail Stankov, Attorney-at-law, successfully defended a PhD in the category 3.6 Law /Private International Law/ with a dissertation on the topic “Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments of civil and commercial cases”. The public defense took place in the Rectorate of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” on April 9th 2019. The jury consisted of: Associate Professor Boryana Museva, PhD – as Chairman, Associate Professor Tanya Gradinarova, PhD, Associate Professor Vasil Pandov, PhD, Professor Irena Ilieva, PhD, and Associate Professor Diana Kovacheva, PhD.

     

The PhD student Mihail Stankov pointed out that the subject of the study is the tendency to eradicate the exequatur as a procedure and as an execution of a foreign judgment in the state of implementation, as well as the way in which this tendency is reflected in legal acts of the European Union.

Taking into account the lack of thorough research on issues concerning the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Bulgarian literature, and regarding the increasing number of lawsuits with an international element in the field of civil and commercial law, the dissertation is of important practical significance for the correct interpretation of the amendments introduced by Regulation 1215/2012 regarding the mitigated form of execution. For this purpose, the author has analyzed various judgments of the European Court which, in combination with the research and conclusions made in the dissertation, contribute to the elimination of contradictions regarding the correct interpretation of the exequatur’s essence.

     

The supervisor of the PhD student - Associate Professor Vasil Pandov, PhD, pointed out that the current work is the first and for now the only in-depth, all-embracing and specialized research that is completely focused on the procedure of recognition and enforcement under the Brussels IA Regulation. In this sense, the dissertation itself is a contribution to the Bulgarian doctrine of Private international law.

The jury gave a positive assessment of the original contribution of this work to the doctrine, as well as of its content and the presented analyzes, demonstrating the in-depth theoretical preparation of the PhD student Mihail Stankov. Associate Professor Boryana Museva, PhD, pointed out that dealing with the doctrine, jurisprudence and regulatory framework when forming the structure, the systematics and the fundamental part of the work testify for cognizance, awareness and ability to form conclusions based on logical and teleological statements of the author. Critical remarks were also made and were accepted by the PhD student Mihail Stankov.

After the vote of the jury, with 5 votes in favor, a positive assessment was given for the acquisition of an educational degree and a PhD in the category 3.6 Law /Private International Law/ to Mihail Stankov.

     

Mihail Stankov, PhD, expressed his appreciation to the jury for the in-depth review of his dissertation and for the remarks that were made. He voiced special gratitude to his family and his colleagues from Stankov, Todorov, Hinkov and Spasov, Attorneys-at-Law.

“I dedicate this work to Professor Nikolay Natov, PhD, who left us in 2018 and who inspired dozens of lawyers, including me, to love the juridical doctrine and law in particular - Private International Law.", Mihail Stankov, PhD, concluded his speech.