G.B. and Iorgov v Bulgaria - 40653/98 [2010] ECHR 935 (3 June 2010)

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(Applications Nos. 42346/98 and 40653/98, judgment of 11 March 2004, final on 11 June 2004

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 judgments transmitted by the Court to the Committee once they had become final;

Recalling that the violations of the Convention found by the Court in these cases concern the inhuman and degrading treatment of the applicants due to the conditions in which they were detained following their being sentenced to death whereas a moratorium on capital punishment had already been established (violations of article 3) (see details in Appendix);

Having invited the government of the respondent state to inform the Committee of the measures taken to comply with its obligation under Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention to abide by the judgments;

Having examined the information provided by the government in accordance with the Committee’s Rules for the application of Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention;

Having satisfied itself that, within the time-limit set, the respondent state paid the applicants the just satisfaction provided in the judgments (see details in Appendix),

Recalling that a finding of violations by the Court requires, over and above the payment of just satisfaction awarded by the Court in its judgments, the adoption by the respondent state, where appropriate:

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

DECLARES, having examined the measures taken by the respondent state (see Appendix), that it has exercised its functions under Article 46, paragraph 2, of the Convention in these cases and

These cases concern the prison regime and the conditions in which the applicants were imprisoned (from 1990 to 1998 in the G.B. case and from 1995 to 1998 in the Iorgov case). The applicants had been sentenced to death despite the fact that a moratorium on capital punishment had already been established. The European Court found that the applicants’ conditions of detention amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment, in view of the stringent custodial regime and the material conditions of detention (violations of Article 3).

Following the abolition of the death penalty in Bulgaria in 1998, the applicants’ sentences were commuted to life imprisonment and the applicants were no longer subject to the prison regime and conditions which the European Court held to be in violation of the Convention. The European Court awarded just satisfaction for the non-pecuniary damage sustained by the applicants. Consequently no further individual measures was considered necessary.

All death sentences passed before the death penalty was abolished have been commuted to life imprisonment. The Bulgarian government has pointed out that the prison regime and the material conditions in which this category of prisoners are held has been examined on several occasions by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). More specifically, during the visit it made in 2002 (see document CPT/Inf(2004)21, §92), the CPT noted that [...] the evidence gathered during the 2002 visit suggests that steps have been taken by the Bulgarian authorities to improve the situation of life-sentenced inmates in the light of its recommendations. In this regard, the CPT’s delegation was pleased to learn of plans to progressively integrate life-sentenced prisoners into mainstream prison regimes. The Bulgarian authorities are fully determined to pursue their efforts in this field, in the light, in particular, of the most recent recommendations of the CPT (see document CPT/Inf(2008)11).

The government considers that, apart from the payment of just satisfaction, no individual measure is required in these cases, that the general measures that have been adopted will prevent similar violations and that Bulgaria has thus complied with its obligations under Article 46, paragraph 1, of the Convention.

1 Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 3 June 2010 at the 1086th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies

Case and application No.	Non-pecuniary damage	Costs and expenses	Total
G.B., No.42346/98	2 000 EUR	-	2 000 EUR
Paid on 09/09/2004
Iorgov, No.40653/98	1 500 EUR	1 000 EUR	2 500 EUR
Paid on 09/09/2004

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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> European Court of Human Rights >> G.B. and Iorgov v Bulgaria - 40653/98 [2010] ECHR 935 (3 June 2010) URL: http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2010/935.html Cite as: [2010] ECHR 935