What should a party do when, having signed a free arbitration clause and perhaps even having commenced such proceedings, it finds it necessary to have recourse to the interim protection provisions of Article 669 <I>et seq </I>of the Italian Civil Code in order to, for example, prevent the other party from adopting a course of conduct which is contrary to a clause in the contract?

The party seeking the recognition and enforcement of a judgement rendered by a foreign court ("FCJ"), including in cases where the jurisdiction of such foreign court is based on the contractual choice by the parties to an agreement, is required to apply for the recognition and enforcement of the FCJ before the Sofia City Court ("SCC").

Under Italian law, questions regarding the constitutional legitimacy of legislation that arise in the course of proceedings before a "judicial authority" must be referred to the Constitutional Courtwhich alone has jurisdiction to decide such issues.

According to the fundamental principles embodies in the Constitution, Bulgaria is a republic with parliamentary governing system. It is a unitary (centralised) state with local selfgoverning authorities whereas no autonomous territorial formations exist. The principle of supremacy of law is flagged out as a cornerstone of Bulgaria's new constitutional regime. This principle is further supplemented by the rule that the provisions of the Constitution have direct applicability.

Article 806 of the Italian Civil Procedure Code states that parties may generally refer disputes to arbitration, provided that the subject matter of the dispute is capable of resolution by private agreement

The Constitution introduces two general principles that directly impact the legal environment for international investments in Bulgaria and guarantee that investors are treated in a nondiscriminatory way: the principle of equal treatment of foreign and local investors and the principle of priority of international treaties over domestic legislation.

The real estate regime in Bulgaria is governed by the Law on Ownership, the Law on State Ownership and the Regulation on the implementation thereof, the Law on Municipal Ownership and the Regulation on the implementation thereof, the Law on Ownership and Use of Agricultural Land and the Regulation on the implementation thereof as well as by the Law on Cadastre and Real Estate Registry and the Ordinance on Entries.