3.1 NATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND ITS APPLICATION IN PRACTICE are appointed by the courts to determine a supposed intellectual or psychosocial disability refer to the definitions set by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD – 10). In cases of legally incapacitated persons, the two legislative acts that must be considered are the Persons and Family Act60 and the Family Code61. They regulate the placement under guardianship and the appointment of a full/partial guardian of the vulnerable person inasmuch as the latter acts as the legal representative of the vulnerable person and is able to (and should) make decisions on the part of the vulnerable person throughout the course of the proceedings in cases of full guardianship or give one’s consent or disagreement with the vulnerable person’s decisions in cases of partial guardianship. The author of this research requested in written statistics about the numbers of suspected, accused, defendant, convicted or found criminally irresponsible persons with IPD in national and cross-border cases by the Ministry of Healthcare, the Ministry of Justice, the “Execution of Punishments” Directorate at the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecution Office. All these institutions replied that they do not collect, process and keep such statistics.62 The National Centre for Public Health and Analyses at the Ministry of Healthcare is the only institution that collects annual data about the number of persons with IPD whose condition is monitored by mental health centres and psychiatric hospitals in the whole country. According to its most recent data at the end of 2020 the total of 118 778 persons suffered from psychosocial and intellectual disabilities in Bulgaria.63 The Centre also is the only state institution that keeps and provides statistical data about the number of forensic psychiatric assessments of persons with IPD in criminal proceedings. According to its unofficial data in 2020 the total of 1 303 forensic assessments have been performed in criminal cases out of which 287 declared the assessed persons as mentally incompetent. The total of 293 were performed in psychiatric hospitals (144 of which for mentally incompetent persons); 503 were performed in mental health centres (57 of which for mentally incompetent persons); 55 were performed in psychiatric clinics (12 of which for mentally incompetent persons); 208 in psychiatric wards of general hospitals (45 of which for mentally incompetent persons), 244 in outpatient facilities (29 of which for mentally incompetent persons). The current research had not found any official data about the number of persons with IPD who are placed under compulsory treatment at present or in the past. Bulgaria, Persons and Family Act (Закон за лицата и семействата) (10.09.1949), Art. 5, available in Bulgarian at: http://www.lex. bg/bg/laws/ldoc/2121624577. 61 Bulgaria, Family Code (Семеен кодекс), (1.10.2009), Art. 153, available in Bulgarian at: http://www.lex.bg/bg/laws/ ldoc/2135637484. 62 Bulgaria, Reply to written request under the Access to Public Information Act № 95-00-53/22/28.04.2022 of the Ministry of Justice, Reply to the written request under the Access to Public Information Act № L-1698/21.04 2022-2 of the “Execution of Punishments” Directorate at the Ministry of Justice, Reply to the written request under the Access to Public Information Act № 93-00-96/21.04.2022 of the Ministry of Healthcare, Reply to the written request under the Access to Public Information Act № 1086/29.04.2022 of the Supreme Prosecution Office. 63 Bulgaria, National Centre for Public Health and Analyses, Number of ill persons under monitoring of psychiatric facilities as of 31.12.2020, available in Bulgarian at: https://ncpha.government.bg./uploads/statistics/annual/health_B_5.pdf. According to these data persons with psychosocial and behavioural disabilities are 114 032 (including dementia (3 000), mental disorders due to alcohol and substance/drug abuse (10 300), schizophrenia – 30 000, affective disorders – 20 000, intellectual disability – 26 000, etc.) 60 Bulgarian Helsinki Committee 25