During its Human Rights meeting of March 2020 the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers examined the Yordanova and Others group of cases against Bulgaria concerning the applicants’ home eviction or demolition orders and the potential violations of their private or family life.
The Committee, while noting with interest the domestic courts’ developing case law concerning the proportionality review, invited the authorities to ensure that this review is clearly available to all persons whose right to home is affected by a demolition order. It also noted the need for additional information on the judicial practice demonstrating that it is fully in line with the requirements of the European Court’s judgments. Relevant judicial practice still does not appear sufficiently consolidated and does not seem to guarantee a proportionality assessment by the administration.
In this context, the Committee recalled that a 2019 draft bill seems to provide an adequate basis for proportionality assessment. It therefore urged the authorities to rapidly adopt this bill and ensure that everyone affected by a demolition order can benefit from a Convention-compliant proportionality assessment. Lastly, the authorities were invited to provide the Committee with information on the progress achieved with this legislative reform by 1 October 2020.
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