The Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law (BCNL) was registered as a Bulgarian legal entity (public benefit foundation) on July 30, 2001, becoming the first local affiliate of ICNL to be registered in Central and Eastern Europe. The Foundation is a non-governmental, non-political and non-religious organization.

The mission of BCNL is “To provide legal & policy support for the development of civil society, public participation and good governance in Bulgaria”.

The objectives of BCNL are:

• To support the development and strengthening of an enabling legal and policy environment for an independent civil society, incl. non-governmental, not-for-profit organizations (NGOs), in Bulgaria and other countries;
• To promote transparency, accountability, and proper internal governance of not-for-profit organizations
• To support the adoption of codes of conduct, codes of ethics, and other self-regulatory mechanisms;
• To promote the development of professional skills and knowledge appropriate for improving the enabling legal environment for civil society, incl. NGOs in Bulgaria;
• To provide assistance to NGOs with respect to legal problems;
• To foster international co-operation in the field of civil society, incl. NGOs and to encourage Bulgarian and regional participation in mutual programs.