MINELRES: ERRC: Legal Action on Problematic Bulgarian Police Law Provisions

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: European Roma Rights Center <errc@errc.org> 


Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and ERRC Seek Intervention of the Bulgarian
Constitutional Court concerning the Obligation of the Police to Respect
an Individual's Right to Liberty and Personal Security

December 16, 2003


The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) and the European Roma Rights
Center (ERRC) have undertaken a joint initiative to have the Bulgarian
Constitutional Court rule on the absence in domestic law of a duty for
the police to inform a detainee of the reasons for her arrest in a
language which she understands.

The BHC and the ERRC have addressed the Bulgarian President,
Prime-Minister, Attorney General, the President of the Supreme Court of
Cassation, and the President of the Supreme Administrative Court and
have invited these individuals/institutions to initiate proceedings in
abstracto before the Bulgarian Constitutional Court concerning the
obvious incompatibility of domestic legislation governing police arrest
and detention with binding international human rights standards.

Specifically, the BHC and the ERRC have asserted that Article 70 of the
Ministry of Interior Act, which fails to require the arresting police
officers to inform a detainee of the reasons for her arrest in a
language which she understands, is in clear violation of Article 5(2) of
the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 9(2) of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as Article
10(3) of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National
Minorities.

In their communication, the BHC and the ERRC have stressed the
importance of human rights protection at the domestic level and
expressed their belief that the addressees, all of which have standing
to initiate proceedings before the Constitutional Court, will exercise
their competence and make it possible for the highest Bulgarian judicial
instance to declare the said provision in violation of international
law. Were the Court to do so, the Bulgarian Parliament would be required
to adopt new legislation guaranteeing an individual's fundamental right
to liberty and personal security.

For additional details regarding the above action, please contact
Branimir
Plese, ERRC Legal Director. (Email: branko@e..., Phone: +361 413 2200).
_____________________________________________

The European Roma Rights Center is an international public interest law
organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and provides legal
defence
in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about the European
Roma Rights Center, visit the ERRC on the web at http://www.errc.org.

European Roma Rights Center
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary


Phone: +36 1 4132200
Fax: +36 1 4132201

_____________________________________________

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