On 3 September, the Committee of Ministers ended its supervision of the execution of the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment in the case of Petrov and Ivanova v. Bulgaria. This case and other similar cases concerned public statements made by a Minister of the Interior, by public prosecutors and a member of the Parliament, which breached the right to be presumed innocent. Moreover, the applicants were deprived of an effective domestic remedy in this respect.
The supervision was closed following the adoption of legislative reforms and the development of domestic judicial practice. In particular, in 2023 the Code of Criminal Procedure was amended to introduce stronger guarantees, ensuring that information from pre-trial proceedings is only disclosed by the competent bodies in full compliance with the presumption of innocence. The State and Municipalities Responsibility for Damage Act was supplemented to provide for a specific legal ground for individuals to seek compensation for the unlawful disclosure of investigative materials by pretrial investigation bodies or prejudicial public statements.
In addition, the domestic case-law evolved to affirm that officials or their employer can be held liable for prejudicial statements.
