Unlawful placement in a social care home for persons with mental disabilities: Stanev v Bulgaria

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Stanev v Bulgaria (application n 36760/06)

Briefed on 28th February 2023

The presentation on this case was given by Simona Florescu, Litigation Manager at Validity, and Aneta Mircheva, Lawyer at the Network of Independent Experts.

The Court found that the restrictions on his possibility to leave the home amounted to a deprivation of liberty, which was unlawful on the ground that the authorities’ failure at any time to consult the applicant and ascertain whether he consented was contrary to domestic law and also because of the lack of recent and regularly updated medical evidence attesting to the continuing existence of his mental disorder and the need to confine him for his own safety or that of others (violation of Article 5 § 1). The Court criticised the lack of any judicial remedy to challenge the lawfulness of the placement or to claim compensation (violations of Article 5 §§ 4 and 5). It found that for seven years the applicant was confined in inhuman and degrading conditions, on account of the dilapidated and unsanitary premises, inadequate heating, food and hygiene (violation of Article 3) and that there was no domestic remedy allowing him to challenge this or obtain compensation (violation Article 13). Finally, it found a breach of the applicant’s right of access to a court (violation of Article 6 § 1) due to the impossibility for him to directly file a request for judicial revocation of his partial guardianship and recommended, under Article 46, general measures to allow such access to partially incapacitated persons.