CASE OF DIMITROVA v. BULGARIA
Violation of Article 9 - Freedom of thought conscience and religion (Article 9-1 - Manifest religion or belief);Violation of Article 13+9 - Right to an effective remedy (Article 9 - Freedom of thought conscience and religion;Article 9-1 - Manifest religion or belief)
Guido Raimondi;Krzysztof Wojtyczek;Ledi Bianku;Nona Tsotsoria;Päivi Hirvelä;Paul Mahoney;Pavlina Panova;Zdravka Kalaydjieva
6. Word of Life is an international religious organisation based in Uppsala, Sweden. In the early 1990s, three non-profit organisations affiliated with Word of Life (Слово на живот) were registered by the Sofia City Court under the Persons and Family Act, and one of these organisations opened a Bible study centre in Sofia. However, on 1 April 1994 the Supreme Court reversed the Sofia City Court’s decision to register the three organisations, on the ground that they had not submitted the necessary applications to renew their registration within the three month time-limit which had been introduced on 18 February 1994 following amendment of the Persons and Family Act. Following the Supreme Court’s decision, the three organisations affiliated with Word of Life were deleted from the registry of non-profit organisations. Moreover, the organisations were not registered in accordance with the Religious Denominations Act and the Bible study centre was not registered with the Ministry of Education. Word of Life therefore had no legal status in Bulgaria at the time of the events in question. 7. On an unknown date in 1994 a complaint was submitted to the office of the Sofia City Public Prosecutor by the Directorate of Religious Denominations with the Council of Ministers, raising concerns about the activities of Word of Life in Bulgaria. On 13 May 1994, having carried out an investigation, the prosecutor’s office adopted a decision stating that the “sect” had an influence on its followers which increased the risk of suicide and other psychological problems. Membership might lead to the severance of family and social ties with the wider community; followers were prohibited from watching television or reading literature other than the Bible or from undergoing any form of surgical intervention. In conclusion, the prosecutor decided to order the restriction of the right of members of the three organisations linked to Word of Life from assembling to promote their beliefs and from continuing to operate the Bible study centre. Relying on Article 185 of the 1974 Code of Criminal Procedure (“the 1974 Code”), which allowed the prosecutor to take all measures necessary to prevent the commission of a criminal offence where there was a suspicion that an offence might be committed, the prosecutor ordered the police to take measures to restrict the organisation’s access to places where it could hold meetings and preach about its beliefs and convictions. Following an appeal by members of the community, the above decision was upheld by a higher prosecutor. 8. At all relevant times the applicant was a member of Word of Life. Following the prosecutor’s decision of 13 May 1994, groups of Word of Life members organised meetings in private homes, including that of the applicant. On 8 September 1995 a prosecutor granted permission for a search of the applicant’s flat. On 27 September 1995 the applicant was summonsed and interviewed by the police in relation to her religious beliefs and to meetings of members of Word of Life in her home. The police then accompanied the applicant to her flat and searched it. They seized a number of items, including audio tapes with religious content, notebooks with sermons, brochures, books, magazines and video tapes. 9. After the search the police issued a warning order (протокол за предупреждение) under the Public Education Act instructing the applicant not to host further meetings of members of the religious community. The order relied also on the decision of the prosecutor of 13 May 1994. 10. On 1 December 1995 the applicant brought an action against the Sofia police, seeking return of her chattels and damages under the 1988 State and Municipalities Responsibility for Damage Act (“the 1988 Act”) in respect of the above measures, which she claimed breached her right to freedom of religion and freedom of assembly. 11. In a judgment of 28 February 1998 the Sofia District Court partially allowed the action, finding that the applicant’s questioning by the police and the warning order had been lawful, but that the search and the seizure had been unlawful as they had not been undertaken in the framework of any criminal investigation and as the items seized had not been intended to be used in criminal proceedings. Making an assessment under the general law of tort rather than the 1988 Act, the court awarded the applicant 25,000 Bulgarian levs (the equivalent of about 13 euros (EUR) at current rates of exchange) for damages and ordered that the items seized on 27 September 1995 be returned. 12. Upon appeals by the parties, on 29 July 2002 the Sofia City Court upheld the District Court’s judgment insofar as it concerned the order for the police to return to the applicant the chattels seized. It remitted the remainder of the case concerning liability for damages for fresh consideration under the 1988 Act. 13. Following a new examination of the case, on 8 February 2005 the Sofia District Court dismissed the claim for damages. It found that the impugned actions of the police could not be qualified as administrative acts because the police had acted pursuant to the orders of the prosecution authorities. As to the prosecution authorities themselves, they could not be held liable under the 1988 Act for decisions of the type in question. 14. Upon an appeal by the applicant, in a final judgment of 2 October 2006 the Sofia City Court upheld the District Court’s findings under the 1988 Act. The Sofia City Court observed that the prosecution service had ordered the measures and that the police officers who were involved had merely assisted the prosecution authorities as they were obliged to do under Article 185 of the 1974 Code. 15. The relevant domestic law concerning freedom of religion, the activities of unregistered religious organisations, searches and seizures and the prosecution’s power to order measures for the prevention of crime was summarised in the Court’s judgment in Boychev and Others v. Bulgaria (no. 77185/01, §§ 25-26 and 31-38, 27 January 2011). 16. The relevant provisions of the 1988 Act on State responsibility are set out in Krasimir Yordanov v. Bulgaria, no. 50899/99, §§ 25-26, 15 February 2007. 17. The relevant domestic law regarding remedies for unreasonably long civil proceedings was set out in Balakchiev and Others v. Bulgaria (dec.), no. 65187/10, 18 June 2013.