On 4 June, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held that a Bulgarian appellate court did not constitute an impartial tribunal and that a sanction imposed by the court did not satisfy the essential components of a fair trial. The Bosev v. Bulgaria case involved the conviction of a journalist for allegedly defaming a former senior government official, however, the Bulgarian Court’s decision faced allegations of a lack of impartiality.
The applicant, Mr Bosev, was sued by the former chairman of Bulgaria’s Financial Supervision Commission, Mr Mavrodiev, as he made a statement on some television interviews relating to prior money-laundering allegations against Mr Mavrodiev, and stated that he had used his position on the Financial Supervisory Commission to put pressure on two publications by fining them. The Sofia District Court in 2017 found Mr Bosev to be guilty of defamation, and imposed a fine and expenses on him. After lodging an appeal, and in the process of subsequent proceedings, Mr Bosev’s defence team had made requests that Judge Petya Kruncheva recuse herself from the case, as he had criticised her work in the past and her integrity as a judge, but the request was rejected by her. The Sofia City Court under Judge Petya Kruncheva’s judgement upheld the decision, and it was reiterated that the statements were defamatory in nature as Mr Mavrodiev had not been convicted in the money-laundering allegations and he had not been the person who signed off on the fines imposed. The court also noted that a more severe penalty would have been appropriate, however, there was no express request for this, so the same fine was imposed as the district court.
In bringing forward a case to the European Court of Human Rights, Mr Bosev relied on Articles 6 and 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights (the ‘Convention’). In making a finding in favour of the applicant, the ECHR ruled that there were violations of the Convention as there was no effective or adequate guarantees that the restrictions imposed on Mr Bosev’s freedom of expression would not be arbitrary. The ECHR awarded compensation to Mr Bosev of €511 for the fine he received, and gave €3000 to compensate for moral damages. During its judgement, the ECHR commented that,
"under the specific circumstances of the case, the applicant may have objective and well-founded doubts about the impartiality with which Petya Kruncheva will exercise [their] functions in the context of considering the appeal he filed against the sentence passed by the court of first instance."
Click here for the judgement in Bosev v. Bulgaria.