20-03-2024 11:42
There is a need for a fast, clear and precise mechanism for responding to the implementation of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Borislav Ganchev, Head of the Justice Programme of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism and Head of the Cabinet of the Minister of Justice, said.
He participated in a forum on the steps taken to implement the group of decisions ‘Yordanova and others v. Bulgaria’, concerning orders for the removal of illegal housing occupied by Roma in the district of Batalova Vodenitsa, without a proportionality assessment.
The analysis and the identification of measures were developed within the framework of a project funded by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014 —2021 and implemented by the Directorate ‘Representation of the Republic of Bulgaria before the ECHR’ in the Ministry of Justice.
Ganchev described the next project event as ‘creating an immune system regarding human rights’.
He emphasized on the support of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, which for a second programming period has been funding a project related to the establishment of mechanisms for effective implementation of ECHR decisions in Bulgaria. As an example of the result of this, he pointed to the implementation of the decision ‘Kolevi v Bulgaria’ with the introduction of a legal mechanism for accountability and criminal responsibility of the Prosecutor General.
Future measures regarding the mandatory introduction of a proportionality assessment in the legal framework regarding the procedure for the removal of illegal constructions were presented and discussed at the forum. The focus is on the occupants of these properties —people in vulnerable situations.
Some of the criteria proposed for evaluation are: whether the property is a single dwelling; the duration of occupancy; whether there are minors, underage occupants or pregnant women and persons with permanent disabilities; the financial and property circumstances of the occupants; the possibility of securing suitable alternative accommodation in other dwelling, etc.
Lyubov Stoycheva from the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights gave a positive assessment of the quality of the analysis prepared during the event.