Resolution CM/ResDH(2011)8

Execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights
Stankov and Tzvyatkov against Bulgaria

(Application No. 68490/01, judgment of 12 July 2007, final on 12 October 2007
Application No. 20594/02, judgment of 12 June 2008, final on 12 September 2008)

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 disproportionate restriction of the applicants’ right to access to court due to excessive amount of court fees imposed on them in civil proceedings against the state (violations of Article 6, paragraph 1) (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 in the 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

- general measures preventing similar violations;

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

DECIDES to close the examination of these cases.

Appendix to Resolution CM/ResDH(2011)8

Information on the measures taken to comply with the judgments in the cases of
Stankov and Tzvyatkov against Bulgaria

Introductory case summary

These cases concern the violation of the applicants’ right of access to a court in proceedings for damages brought by the applicants against the state, because they had to pay court fees (in 2000 and 2003) which deprived them of almost all the compensation the state had been ordered to pay them for unjustified pre-trial detention or unjustified criminal proceedings (violations of Article 6, paragraph 1).
The Court held that the practical difficulties in assessing the likely award under the State Responsibility for Damage Act, taken together with the relatively high and wholly inflexible rate of court fees, amounted to a disproportionate restriction on the applicants’ right to a court.

I.	Payment of just satisfaction and individual measures

a) Details of just satisfaction

Name and application number	Damage	Costs and expenses	Total	
Stankov (68490/01)	2 000 EUR	1 300 EUR	3 300 EUR	
	Paid on 10/01/2008	
Tzvyatkov (20594/02)	1 000 EUR	-	1 000 EUR	
	Paid on 5/12/2008	

b) Individual measures

The European Court awarded just satisfaction in respect of the damage suffered.

No other individual measure was considered necessary by the Committee of Ministers.

II.	General measures

Under the old version of the State Responsibility for Damage Act, in proceedings under the Act no court fees or costs were payable by the plaintiffs upon the submission of the claim. However, if the claim for damages was wholly or partly dismissed, the claimants had to pay court fees amounting to a fixed percentage of the dismissed part of their claims. As a result, where the claimants indicated too high an amount in the claim form, the court fees could exceed the sum awarded in damages.
The relevant provisions of the State and Municipalities Responsibility for Damage Act (SMRDA) were amended as from 30/05/2008. At present, a flat-rate court fee is due for filing a claim under the SMRDA, which varies depending on the type of the claimant and is either BGN 10 for physical persons or BGN 25 for legal persons (EUR 5.12 or EUR 12.82). The court fee due for each subsequent appeal or request for reopening is half these amounts (Article 9a of the SMRDA and Articles 2a and 18 (3) of the Tariff of state fees collected by the courts under the Code of Civil Procedure). The claimants pay all costs incurred in the proceedings only if the claim has been rejected in its entirety or if they withdraw or waive their claim entirely (Article 10§2 of the SMRDA). If the court decides in favour of the claim, in whole or in part, the defendant is ordered to pay the costs relating to such proceedings, as well as the claimant’s state fee (Article10§3).
The judgment of the European Court has been translated into Bulgarian and published on the website of the Ministry of Justice www.mjeli.government.bg.

III.	Conclusions of the respondent state

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