| Applicant name | SIMONOVA |
| Applicant type | Natural person |
| Number of applicants | 1 |
| Country | BULGARIA |
| Application no. | 30782/16 |
| Date | 11/04/2023 |
| Judges | Pere Pastor Vilanova, President, Georgios A. Serghides, Yonko Grozev, Jolien Schukking, Peeter Roosma, Ioannis Ktistakis, Andreas Zünd |
| Institution | Court |
| Type | Judgment |
| Outcome Art. 8 | Violation |
| Reason | Not necessary (“prevention of disorder”, the “economic well-being of the country” and “the rights of others”) |
| Type of privacy | Locational privacy; procedural privacy |
| Keywords | Demolish home; judicial review |
| Facts of the case | The case chiefly concerns the question whether an order for the demolition of an illegally erected building alleged to have been the only home of the applicant, a single mother, and her minor children was “necessary in a democratic society” within the meaning of Article 8 § 2 of the Convention, given that neither the authority which made the order nor the court which later reviewed it analysed whether demolition would be proportionate in the light of the applicant’s individual circumstances. |
| Analysis | The demolition order itself did not contain any analysis of whether it would disproportionately affect the applicant in the light of her own particular circumstances. When the order then came before it for examination following the applicant’s claim for judicial review, the domestic court did not explore the issue either. That court did not have regard to all factors capable of bearing on the proportionality of the interference. It does not appear that the authorities offered the applicant a comprehensive solution: their only definite proposal appears to have been to temporarily place her children in accommodation run by the social services. The delay in the enforcement of the demolition order, while undoubtedly offering the applicant some reprieve, did not in itself lead to any proper solution to the problem she was facing. |
| Other Article violation? | No |
| Damage awarded | (a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, EUR 4,500 (four thousand five hundred euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement, in respect of non-pecuniary damage; (b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amount at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points; |
| Documents | Judgment |