Keywords: Rights; Police Powers; Police Violence; Victims of Crime
This report presents the standard for the exercise of police powers, known as „absolutely necessary when using firearms, physical force and aids by police officers.“ In Bulgarian context emphasis is placed on the implementation of this standard, adopted by the Council of Europe, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the case law of the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. This was achieving through active collaboration between the political and professional leadership of the Ministry of Interior, the Prosecutor’s Office, the non-governmental sector, the Ombudsman. In the context of the post-monitoring dialogue with the Council of Europe the standard was successfully introduced in Bulgaria on July 1, 2012. In a series of reports implementation through a change in the law of the Ministry of Interior was assessing positively by the Council of Europe. The author of the report served as Deputy Minister of the Interior from 2009 to 2013 and led the whole process formalising an agreement the idea of change, conducting the public discussion, leading working groups, drafting a law and defending in the National Assembly.
More...Keywords: Religion; Tolerance; Freedom of Religion; Ancient Rome; Polytheism
The article discusses Article 9 of the ECHR in parallel with the Roman legal concepts of religious freedom and tolerance, placed mainly in the pagan period until the establishment of Christianity as the only and obligatory state religion at the end of the IV century. Conclusions have been drawn about the universalism adopted in the ius gentium with regard to the religions of the peoples in Romandominated Mediterranean, Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa.
More...Keywords: Coup d ’Etat on May 19; 1934; Military Law; History of Bulgarian Law
The article presents main characteristics of the magazine „Military Legal Thought“ (1935-1943): circumstances surrounding the creation of the issue; program and goals; composition of the editorial board over the years; quantitative indicators by topics; review of some of the more important publications. The main conclusion is that the edition is syncretic, and this circumstance corresponds to the specific socio-political period.
More...Keywords: Accountability; Independence; Public Media; Sustainability; Transparency
The article presents the implementation of the requirements of the Council of Europe for compliance with the principles of independence; transparency; accountability and sustainability of public media; enshrined in the draft Law on Bulgarian National Radio and Bulgarian National Television; drafted by Prof. Habil. Raina Nikolova
More...Keywords: Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; National Assembly; Ratification; Member of Parliament; Vote
The article examines the path and parliamentary debates on the ratification of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in 1992 in the XXXVI National Assembly. Attention is paid to the initial texts submitted to the government bills; the proposals for amendments and supplements made by the members of the National Assembly; as well as the final texts adopted by the parliament. Emphasis was placed on the positions of the political forces represented in the Assembly and the fact that both the ruling party and the opposition are in favour of the adoption of the Convention; which is why the vote is entirely positive for the proposed government laws.
More...Keywords: Prohibition of Discrimination; Human Rights; European Court of Human Rights
The Protection against discrimination is based on the idea of social justice and aims to guarantee equal access to rights. The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms establishes a general prohibition of discrimination in the exercise of any other right protected by the ECHR (Article 14). Protocol № 12 to the ECHR extends the scope of the prohibition of discrimination to any right established by law. The report examines the different approaches in the Case-law of the European Court of Rights in the application of Article 14 of the ECHR. Depending on the established violation; the protection against discrimination is accessory or independent. The Particular attention is paid to the practice of the ECtHR in cases against Bulgaria.
More...Keywords: Council of Europe; OECD; Tax Avoidance; Mutual Assistance
The member states of the Council of Europe and the member states of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) sign the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in order to prevent the possibility of tax avoidance and evasion in the context of international and free movement of persons; capital; goods and services; which in itself needs an increasing cooperation between the tax authorities of different countries.
More...Keywords: European Court of Human Rights; Criminal Cases; Search; Seizure; Judicial Control Over Coercive Means of Proof
The current research examines the case law of the European Court of Human Rights; containing rulings on issues related to search and seizure in cases against the Republic of Bulgaria. Relevant normative regulations are reviewed; which have not been adhered to in the respective cases. They are connected with the conduct of searches and seizures in cases of urgency; and with the preliminary and subsequent judicial control over these investigative actions. It has been found that the established violations are not a consequence of imperfections in the legislation; but of omissions and flaws in law enforcement.
More...Keywords: Geopolitics; Democracy; International Humanitarian Law; Security; Minorities; Special Intelligence Means; Civil Rights
The Council of Europe (CoE) is the first international organization established after the Second World War; with the main goal of eliminating all the causes and preconditions for the next military conflict. At its core; the CoE is a denial of geopolitics as a form of international relations in which the strength of states‘ positions depends on their military-political power. The attack of the Russian Federation on Ukraine and the actions of the CoE caused by the changed geopolitical environment raised the question about the role of the organization in upholding the principles of modern international law. Along with the rejection of geopolitics; the CoE has; since its inception; made the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms a priority. One of the areas of control by the CoE is the application of special intelligence tools; the application of which is assessed by lawyers; human rights defenders and security professionals as particularly sensitive to citizens. From the point of view of the correlation between security and rights of citizens; the topic of the CoE’s influence is relevant; mainly through the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights; on the actions of state bodies for security and law and citizens’ rights.
More...Keywords: Right to Work; Right to Dignity
The exhibition considers the right to work as a fundamental human right and as a natural continuation of the right to dignity - in the context of international law and the national law of the Republic of Bulgaria. Some possibilities for justified restriction of the exercise of the right to work for a legitimate purpose are also analysed. In the context of the research topic; a review of part of the relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union has been made.
More...Keywords: Freedom of Expression; Impartiality of the Judiciary; Chilling Effect
The report examines the right to freedom of expression and one of the most specific and controversial boundaries set out in Art. 10; par. 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) - maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary. The report includes a critical analysis and an overview of the most important decisions of the European Court of Human Rights; which set the standard for balance in assessing these two competing values. Special attention is paid to the latest practice of the European Court of Human Rights on this issue with a focus on the judgment of Miroslava Todorova v. Bulgaria № 40072/13 of 19 October 2021.
More...Keywords: European Court of Human Rights; Criminal Proceedings; Investigation
This study examines the role of the European Court of Human Rights as a developer of Bulgarian human rights law incl. legislation of criminal substantive and procedural law. The author indicates some specific cases of disagreement between the court instructions and the normative changes in Bulgarian criminal proceedings. Problematic areas in the Bulgarian legislation related to the protection of fundamental human rights from the European Convention on Human Rights have been identified.
More...Keywords: Legal Personality; Personal Data; Digital Technologies; Individuals; Digitalization
The legal personality of the individuals is one of the basic legal concepts that provides the basis for each of the branches of law; both in the past and in the present. With the technological rise and both the development of digital technologies and the daily dynamics of legal relations; the concept of „legal personality“ has not only not lost its significance; but on the contrary; gained a meaning in a completely new and expanded context. The legal personality of individuals has managed to enrich its meaning; refracted through the prism of the modern and the new; expanding its interpretation to include the modern definition of „personal data“ as a mean for the legal individualization of the individuals. This publication aims to examine the concept of the legal personality of the individuals and its main characteristics; while presenting the contemporary view on the context of the same; including personal data as a mean of legal individualization; the protection of these data and the role of the digital technologies in all these processes.
More...Keywords: Identity; Mother; Father; Assisted Reproduction
The method of assisted reproduction can be applied when the medical condition of the man or the woman prevents them from carrying out their reproductive functions in a natural way. In this case; the woman who gave birth to the child is considered to be the mother. A problem arises with the establishment of the identity of the father. The methods for еstablishing the identity; which can be applied; are different depending on the marital status of the partners – whether they are married or not. The law allows reproductive partnership between people who are not spouses.
More...Keywords: Human Rights; Persons with Mental Disabilities; Case-law; Bulgarian Legislation
The European Convention on Human Rights provides the basis of the Council of Europe for the protection of human rights for all, including the rights of persons with mental disabilities. Moreover, the European Court of Human Rights has enshrined these rights in its case law urging member states to make legislative changes to protect the human rights of these individuals. However, Bulgarian legislation has not yet been updated and synchronized with supranational norms about persons with mental disabilities. National Legal reform is needed to guarantee human rights for persons with mental disabilities.
More...Keywords: Trademark; Legislation; Intellectual Property; Ownership; Personal Own
Intellectual property is an amazing product of the human mind and the increasing need to be protected is one of the first duties of every manager. Protection is based on good knowledge of legislation and good coordination between different kinds of trademarks and individual signs. The best trademark is this one, which can connect one company with an exact trademark just with one look. Humans’ memory is astonishing how can make a connection deeply in the human mind with graphic images or sounds or other individual signs, which are called trademarks or business cards of your business.
More...Keywords: Genov vs. Bulgaria; ECHR; Totalitarian Monuments
The ruling of the ECHR against Bulgaria on the case „Genov and Sarbinska vs. Bulgaria“, which acknowledged as unlawful the detention and the Court decision of the Bulgarian courts against the civil activist, call for a different approach to the monuments, remnants of the totalitarian regime in Bulgaria. Because the actual „crime“ Mr. Genov was accused of was precisely this - to have written a message and painted such a monument, situated next to the entrance of the Headquarters of the Bulgarian Socialist party, thus expressing his protest against the behaviour of the Bulgarian Government at the time. The acknowledgement by the ECHR as „admissible“ the expression of civil statements in such a way, there comes the question of the consequences for the other such monuments, still standing in public places across Bulgaria, and whether it is proper, government and municipalities to spend the taxpayers’ money on „protecting“ these from such colouring, or should they be moved to the Museum of totalitarian art.
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