Resolution CM/ResDH(2021)189

Execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights

Eight cases against Bulgaria

(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 16 September 2021

at the 1411 th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies)

Application No.

Case

Judgment of

Final on

53942/16

CHOBANOV AND KOYRUSHKI

04/06/2020

04/06/2020

34846/08

DIMITROV AND RIBOV

17/11/2015

17/02/2016

50760/09

HRISTOSKOV

15/02/2018

15/02/2018

2727/19

IVANOV AND OTHERS

04/06/2020

04/06/2020

37994/09

RADEV

17/11/2015

17/02/2016

21980/04

SIMEONOVI

12/05/2017

Grand Chamber

31820/18

YORDANOV AND DZHELEBOV

04/06/2020

04/06/2020

34639/07

ZHIVKO GOSPODINOV AND OTHERS

26/10/2017

26/10/2017

The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which provides that the Committee supervises the execution of final judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Convention” and “the Court”,

Having regard to the final judgments transmitted by the Court to the Committee in these cases and to the violations established on account of poor detention conditions and/or restrictive penitentiary regimes applied in respect of the applicants, the lack of effective remedy, as well as the absence in practice of a real possibility to obtain reduction of a life sentence until January 2013 and the monitoring of correspondence in prison in the case of Zhivko Gospodinov and Others (violations of Articles 3, 8 and 13);

Recalling the respondent State’s obligation, under Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention, to abide by all final judgments in cases to which it has been a party and that this obligation entails, over and above the payment of any sums awarded by the Court, the adoption by the authorities of the respondent State, where required:

- of individual measures to put an end to violations established and erase their consequences so as to achieve as far as possible restitutio in integrum ; and

- of general measures preventing similar violations;

Having invited the government of the respondent State to inform the Committee of the measures taken to comply with the above-mentioned obligation;

Having examined the action plans and information provided by the government indicating the individual measures adopted in order to give effect to the judgments including the information provided regarding the payment of the just satisfaction awarded by the Court (see document DH-DD(2018)13 , DH-DD(2021)698-rev , DH-DD(2021)698-add );

Considering that the question of individual measures was therefore resolved in these cases given that:

- the conditions of detention or regime in the Radev , Zhivko Gospodinov and Others and Dimitrov and Ribov cases appear to have been improved, the applicants have at their disposal an effective preventive remedy and have not raised concerns about the current conditions of detention before the Committee;

- the Court has found no violation of Article 3 as a result of the irreducibility of the applicants’ whole-life sentences after 21 January 2013 as concerns Mr Gospodinov, Mr Hasan, Mr Dimitrov and Mr Iorgov from the Zhivko Gospodinov and Others case ;

- the Court has only found a violation of Article 8 of the Convention due to the monitoring of Mr Gospodinov’s correspondence before February 2010;

- no further individual measures are required in respect of Mr Shahanov from the Zhivko Gospodinov and Others case, who passed away;

- the detention of the applicants in the cases of Ivanov an Others, Chobanov and Koyrushki, Yordanov and Dzhelebov and Simeonovi has now ended;

- the Court has found that the more recent conditions of detention or Mr Hristoskov did not violate Article 3;

Noting that the questions raised by the unjustified monitoring of correspondence in prison in the Zhivko Gospodinov and Others case have been examined in the context of the Petrov group of cases (Final resolution CM/ResDH(2014)258 );

Recalling that the question of general measures required in response to the shortcomings found by the Court in the present judgments continues to be examined within the framework of the K ehayov, Neshkov, Gavazov, Harakchiev and Toloumov cases and that the closure of these cases therefore in no way prejudges the Committee’s evaluation of the general measures in relation to problems related to poor conditions of detention, overcrowding, lack of adequate health care and application of restrictive penitentiary regimes; need to ensure the proper functioning of the domestic remedies (preventive and compensatory), as well as to guarantee that all persons serving life sentences have a real possibility to obtain reduction of their sentence;

DECLARES that it has exercised its functions under Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention in these cases as regards the individual measures and

DECIDES to close the examination of these cases.