Varna

The first specialized commercial court (ticaret meclisi) in Varna was established in the 1850s under the Ottoman Commercial Law of 1850. As a major commercial center and port, Varna was among the settlements in the Empire, where a ticaret meclisi was established. Before the establishment of a specialized commercial court the institutional framework had been pluralistic and nonsystematic. It included: the kadi court, the local councils, the communal courts, the mixed commissions under the custom officer’s chairmanship as well as informal arbitration mechanisms such as mediation. There is evidence that an order and instructions were sent from Istanbul to the mayor of Varna in December 1857 in order for a commercial court to be set up in the town. After the establishment of a commercial court in 1857 it gradually became the main institution regulating trade disputes in Varna. From its beginnings, there were also Bulgarian merchants included in the Court: in 1857 and the next two years this was Dimitar D. Pavlov who had been designated by the Russian consul in Varna in order to represent the interests of Russian traders in the region; the wealthy merchant Nicola Georgievich was selected in early 1863 as the first regular Bulgarian representative in the Ticaret meclisi of Varna, and went on to participate in the Court for several years. In 1869 the Bulgarians from all over the sancak (district) of Varna prepared a petition to the governor in Ruse, asking to be given the right to have one additional representative in the commercial court, who would participate in the discussions and decisions of the “Ticaret”. The petition was supported by several hundred signatures. In 1875–1876, the Bulgarian representative in the Commercial Court of Varna was Janko K. Slavchev. The Varna Commercial Court was one of the biggest institutions of this type in the Balkans. It was used by both foreigners and Ottoman subjects but its main preoccupation appeared to be the regulation of disputes between local merchants^[1].

[1] Русев, И. Прояви на модерна организация и счетоводство в дейността на възрожденските фирми във Варна през XIX в. – Счетоводна политика, 2009, № 9–10, с. 50–64; Машева, И.

Съдебни институции в областта на търговското право във Варна (40-те – 70-те години на XIX в.). – В: Варна, българите и българските градове. Възрожденски поселищни изследвания. Сборник в памет на проф. дин Велко Тонев. Acta Musei Varnaensis XII, Варна, 2016, с. 81–98.

References

Archival sources that contain cases:

Архивные источники, которые содержат дела:

Bibliography:

Библиография:

Русев, И. Прояви на модерна организация и счетоводство в дейността на възрожденските фирми във Варна през XIX в. – Счетоводна политика, 2009, № 9–10, с. 50–64.

Машева, И. , “Съдебни институции в областта на търговското право във Варна (40-те – 70-те години на XIX в.)” – В: Варна, българите и българските градове. Възрожденски поселищни изследвания. Сборник в памет на проф. дин Велко Тонев. Acta Musei Varnaensis XII, Варна, 2016, с. 81–98.