CASE OF X AND OTHERS v. BULGARIA
Hearing: X and Others v. Bulgaria (no. 22457/16) (Grand Chamber hearing, 2020-01-15 00:00:00)
Application no.: 22457/16
Document type: GRANDCHAMBER
Document date: 2021-02-02 00:00:00
ECLI: ECLI:CE:ECHR:2021:0202JUD002245716
Respondent state: BGR
Articles of the Convention: 3;8;8-1;35;35-3-a;41
Judges: André Potocki;Angelika Nußberger;Branko Lubarda;Carlo Ranzoni;Dmitry Dedov;Georgios A. Serghides;Iulia Motoc;Jon Fridrik Kjølbro;Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos;Marko Bošnjak;Mārtiņš Mits;Paul Lemmens;Paulo Pinto De Albuquerque;Robert Spano;Síofra O'Leary;Yonko Grozev;Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer;Ksenija Turković;María Elósegui;Tim Eicke
Represented by: MAUCERI F.
Issue: Criminal Code of Bulgaria
Strasbourg case-law cited: A and B v. Croatia, no. 7144/15, § 106, 20 June 2019;A, B and C v. Latvia, no. 30808/11, § 149, 31 March 2016;A. v. the United Kingdom, 23 September 1998, § 22, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1998 VI;Al Adsani v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 35763/97, § 55, ECHR 2001 XI;Armani Da Silva v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 5878/08, § 234, 30 March 2016;B.V. v. Belgium, no. 61030/08, §§ 56-61 and 66, 2 May 2017;Batı and Others v. Turkey, nos. 33097/96 and 57834/00, § 134, ECHR 2004 IV (extracts);Bouyid v. Belgium [GC], no. 23380/09, §§ 118-123, ECHR 2015;Buturugă v. Romania, no. 56867/15, § 61, 11 February 2020;Đorđević v. Croatia, no. 41526/10, §§ 139 and 144-146, ECHR 2012;Giuliani and Gaggio v. Italy [GC], no. 23458/02, § 303, ECHR 2011 (extracts);Gross v. Switzerland [GC], no. 67810/10, § 28, ECHR 2014;Güzelyurtlu and Others v. Cyprus and Turkey [GC], no. 36925/07, §§ 233 and 235, 29 January 2019;Ilnseher v. Germany [GC], nos. 10211/12 and 27505/14, § 100, 4 December 2018;M. and C. v. Romania, no. 29032/04, § 113, 27 September 2011;M. and Others v. Italy and Bulgaria, no. 40020/03, § 104, 31 July 2012;M.C. v. Bulgaria, no. 39272/98, §§ 149-150, ECHR 2003 XII;M.G.C. v. Romania, no. 61495/11, §§ 58, 70 and 73, 15 March 2016;M.M.B. v. Slovakia, no. 6318/17, §§ 61 and 66, 26 November 2019;M.N. v. Bulgaria, no. 3832/06, § 48, 27 November 2012;M.P. and Others v. Bulgaria, no. 22457/08, § 111, 15 November 2011;Nencheva and Others v. Bulgaria, no. 48609/06, §§ 106 116 and 119-20, 18 June 2013;Nicolae Virgiliu Tănase v. Romania [GC], no. 41720/13, § 116, 25 June 2019;O’Keeffe v. Ireland [GC], no. 35810/09, §§ 144-148 and 157-169, ECHR 2014 (extracts);Osman v. the United Kingdom, 28 October 1998, §§ 115-116, Reports 1998-VIII;Paradiso and Campanelli v. Italy [GC], no. 25358/12, § 84, 24 January 2017;Radomilja and Others v. Croatia [GC], nos. 37685/10 and 22768/12, § 126, 20 March 2018;S.M. v. Croatia [GC], no. 60561/14, §§ 241-243 and 314, 25 June 2020;S.Z. v. Bulgaria, no. 29263/12, 3 March 2015;Söderman v. Sweden [GC], no. 5786/08, § 82, ECHR 2013;Streletz, Kessler and Krenz v. Germany [GC], nos. 34044/96 and 2 others, § 90, ECHR 2001 II;Talpis v. Italy, no. 41237/14, § 111, 2 March 2017;V.C. v. Italy, no. 54227/14, §§ 95 and 99-102, 1 February 2018;W. v. Slovenia, no. 24125/06, § 64, 23 January 2014;Y v. Bulgaria, no. 41990/18, §§ 82 and 93, 20 February 2020;Zafranas v. Greece, no. 4056/08, § 26, 4 October 2011
External sources: Article 19 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child;Articles 12-14, 30-38 of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (“Lanzarote Convention”) and Explanatoy Report;Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Member States of the Euroepan Union 

Conclusion: Preliminary objection dismissed (Art. 35) Admissibility criteria;(Art. 35-3-a) Abuse of the right of application;No violation of Article 3 - Prohibition of torture (Article 3 - Degrading treatment;Inhuman treatment;Positive obligations) (Substantive aspect);Violation of Article 3 - Prohibition of torture (Article 3 - Effective investigation) (Procedural aspect);Non-pecuniary damage - award (Article 41 - Non-pecuniary damage;Just satisfaction)
Separate opinion: TRUE