CASE OF GRABCHAK v. BULGARIA
Violation of Article 8 - Right to respect for private and family life (Article 8-1 - Respect for family life);Violation of Article 13+8 - Right to an effective remedy (Article 13 - Effective remedy) (Article 8 - Right to respect for private and family life;Article 8-1 - Respect for family life)
Nona Tsotsoria;Síofra O’Leary
5. The applicant was born in 1966 and lives in Kiev. 6. The applicant came to Bulgaria in 1995. In 1996 he started a relationship with Ms M., also a Ukrainian national. In 1997 the two of them had a son. In 2003 the applicant was granted permanent resident status. 7. On 6 November 2006 the head of the Ministry of the Interior’s National Security Service issued an order withdrawing the applicant’s residence permit, ordering his expulsion and imposing a ten-year ban on his re-entering Bulgaria, on the ground that his presence in the country represented a “serious threat to national security”. Factual grounds justifying the order were not indicated; it was merely noted that it was based on “proposal no. B4923”. 8. That proposal, drawn up by National Security Service and also dated 6 November 2006, was submitted to the Court. It stated that the applicant had allegedly been involved in acts of extortion, smuggling, arms deals and money laundering, that he operated with large amounts of illegally obtained money, that he had established contacts with Bulgarian officials, including police officers, who had been providing him with illegal services, and that he had been in contact with presumed terrorists. While enumerating the applicant’s presumed illegal activities, the proposal referred to specific dates and names, but to no evidence to support the allegations. Lastly, it was stated that the applicant had left Bulgaria on 29 October 2006. 9. Unaware of the ministerial order of 6 November 2006, on 15 November 2006 the applicant attempted to re-enter the Bulgarian territory but was stopped at the border and not permitted entry. Since then he has been living in Kiev, while Ms M. and his son remained in Bulgaria. 10. Through his lawyer, the applicant submitted an appeal to the Bulgarian Minister of the Interior against the order of 6 November 2006. The appeal was dismissed on 22 December 2006, the Minister pointing out, in particular, that he considered irrelevant the applicant’s argument that he had settled in Bulgaria with his family. 11. After that the applicant applied for judicial review of the order of 6 November 2006. In particular, he pointed out in his application that his family resided in Bulgaria and that their separation had been unjustified. 12. In the course of the judicial proceedings the applicant’s lawyer was shown proposal no. B4923. 13. In a decision of 30 October 2007 the Supreme Administrative Court held that it was competent to examine the application, with reference to the Court’s judgment in the case of AlNashif v. Bulgaria (no. 50963/99, 20 June 2002) and Article 13 of the Convention, even though, at the time the impugned order had been issued, judicial review had not been available under the legislation then applicable (see paragraph 16 below). 14. The judicial proceedings ended on 19 March 2009 with a final judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court, which upheld the order of 6 November 2006. After enumerating the applicant’s alleged unlawful activities described in proposal no. B4923, it stated merely that the impugned order did not breach the law. Furthermore, it dismissed the applicant’s arguments relating to his family and private life, stating: “any restriction of the rights under the Convention is justified [when based] on national security considerations, in cases where foreign citizens’ behaviour threatens the national security and the public order of the State where they reside.”