CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 22 mars 2022

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font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .sADD4F530 { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:34pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-17pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid } .sD11CFAB7 { margin-top:14pt; margin-left:15.01pt; margin-bottom:3pt; text-align:justify; padding-left:1.99pt; font-family:Arial } .s2D9C6089 { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-indent:14.2pt; text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s69DCC830 { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .sD8AE9261 { width:36.9pt; display:inline-block } .sDC0BAB79 { width:166.46pt; display:inline-block } .s5D826FD4 { width:25.88pt; display:inline-block } .s1B61D60 { width:156.43pt; display:inline-block } .sF6A12959 { width:33%; height:1px; text-align:left } .s85226119 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; font-size:10pt } .s653E6C45 { font-family:Arial; font-size:6.67pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 }     FOURTH SECTION CASE OF Y AND OTHERS v. BULGARIA (Application no. 9077/18)       JUDGMENT Art 2 (substantive) • Positive obligations • Authorities’ failure to protect life of woman murdered by her husband, despite her several complaints about domestic violence over 9 month period • Inadequate preventive measures, failure to respond immediately and carry out risk assessment on each occasion of complaint Art 14 (+ Art 2) • No evidence that failure to protect life was due to gender-based discrimination in general or in specific case circumstances   STRASBOURG 22 March 2022 FINAL   05/09/2022   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Y and Others v. Bulgaria, The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Tim Eicke, President ,   Yonko Grozev,   Armen Harutyunyan,   Gabriele Kucsko-Stadlmayer,   Pere Pastor Vilanova,   Jolien Schukking,   Ana Maria Guerra Martins, judges , and Ilse Freiwirth, Deputy Section Registrar , Having regard to: the application (no. 9077/18) against the Republic of Bulgaria lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by three Bulgarian nationals, Ms Y, Ms X and Ms Z (“the applicants”), on 15 February 2018; the decision to give the Bulgarian Government (“the Government”) notice of the application; the decision not to have the applicants’ names disclosed; the parties’ observations; Having deliberated in private on 8 February 2022, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: INTRODUCTION 1.     The applicants are the relatives of a woman killed by her husband, who had been harassing her for several months. The main questions in the case are (a)   whether the authorities were under a duty to take reasonable operational measures to protect the woman’s life, and if so, whether they complied with that duty (issues under Article 2 of the Convention), and (b)   whether the authorities’ alleged failure to comply with that duty was a result of their general complacency towards violence against women and hence discriminatory (issue under Article 14 of the Convention read in conjunction with Article 2). THE FACTS 2.     The applicants are Ms Y, who was born in 1948 and lives in Sofia, and her two granddaughters, Ms X and Ms Z, who were born in 2007 and 2012 respectively and also live in Sofia. In October 2017 Ms Y was appointed legal guardian of her two granddaughters. The applicants were represented by Ms   A. Kachaunova, a lawyer practising in Sofia and working with the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee. 3.     The Government were represented by their Agents, Ms S. Sobadzhieva and Ms M. Dimitrova of the Ministry of Justice. INTRODUCTION 4.     On 18 August 2017 Mrs V., who was born in 1975 and was the daughter of the first applicant and mother of the second and third applicants, was shot dead in a café in Sofia by her husband, Mr V., who was born in 1953, from whom she had de facto separated in 2014. MR AND MRS V.’S MARRIAGE 5 .     Mr and Mrs V. got married in April 2009. For Mr V. this was a second marriage; he had two sons from his previous one. The couple had two daughters (the second and third applicants) who were born in 2007 and 2012 respectively. In 2014 the spouses fell out with each other and stopped living together. 6 .     The two daughters remained with Mrs V., and all three of them lived with her mother (the first applicant) in the first applicant’s flat. MRS V.’S COMPLAINTS TO THE POLICE ABOUT MR V. 7.     During the two years preceding the shooting on 18 August 2017, Mrs   V. complained to the authorities of threatening conduct by Mr V. on several occasions. Incidents on 4, 5 and 14 November 2016 8 .     Mrs V. first complained to the police on 14 November 2016. Some time after 9 p.m., she called the national emergency number 112 to report that the tyres of her car, which had been parked in front of a community cultural centre where she had been dancing from 8 to 9 p.m. that day, had been slashed. At 9.52 p.m. her call was relayed to the police department in Sofia in charge of the area, and they dispatched a patrol. Mrs V. told the officers that she suspected that the tyres had been slashed by Mr V. 9 .     As instructed by the officers, later that evening Mrs V. went to the police station to make a written complaint. In a deposition accompanying her complaint she stated that she suspected that the tyres had been slashed by Mr   V., from whom she had been de facto separated for about two and a half years, because a few days earlier, on 4 November 2016, they had had a row in the course of which he had made death threats against her in her home, in front of her mother (she quoted him as having said: “I will not give you a divorce; I will shoot you! I will leave the children without a mother!”). She went on to say that Mr V. legally owned a handgun, and that she thus feared for her life. She then added that the morning after that row, on 5 November 2016, the exhaust pipe of her car, which had been parked in front of her home, had been filled with polyurethane foam, which she also suspected had been done by Mr V. Mrs V.’s allegations were confirmed in a deposition by a friend of hers, who had accompanied her to the police station. 10 .     On15 November 2016 the head of the police department assigned the case to an officer and gave him twenty days to report back. That officer in turn assigned the case to another officer. A little over a month later, on   23   December 2016, having established that Mr V. was living and working in Yambol, the officer placed in charge of the case delegated to yet another officer to write to the Yambol police with a request to get Mr V. to answer several questions about the tyre-slashing incident. On 10 January 2017 the Yambol police wrote back, saying that Mr V. had stated that the car had been purchased by him, and that he had been out of Sofia when its tyres had been slashed and had had nothing to do with it. Based on that statement, and on the absence of eyewitness or surveillance-camera evidence about the incident, on   16 January 2017 the officer in charge of the case proposed that no criminal proceedings be opened, adding that although the incident formally disclosed the elements of a criminal offence, it was too insignificant to amount to one. 11 .     On 16 March 2017 the Sofia district prosecutor’s office agreed with the proposal and refused to open criminal proceedings in relation to the incident. 12 .     The ensuing internal investigation by the police (see paragraphs 42 ‑ 43 below) found that, apart from writing to the Yambol police (a task which he had in any event delegated to another officer), for two months the officer in charge of the case had done no work on it. No contemporaneous record existed of his having checked whether Mr V. owned firearms, even though the officer claimed that he had carried out such a check. The letter to the Yambol police had not asked them to inquire whether Mr V. had any firearms or had made death threats against Mrs V. The internal investigation concluded that the police investigation carried out pursuant to Mrs V.’s complaint had thus not been comprehensive, complete or speedy: it had focused exclusively on the slashed tyres. Hence, the officer in charge of it and his immediate superior deserved to be reprimanded. Incident on 1 January 2017 13 .     Some time around 10.30 a.m. on 1 January 2017, Mrs V.’s mother (the first applicant) called the national emergency number 112 to complain that Mr V. – who had come to the flat where Mrs V., her mother and Mrs V.’s two daughters (the second and third applicants) lived – was trying to take the two children out for a walk even though they were not wearing proper winter clothes, and had acted aggressively when Mrs V.’s mother had confronted him about it. The call was relayed to the police department in charge of the area at 10.42 a.m., and a police patrol was dispatched to the scene. In their subsequent report, the officers recorded that they had not witnessed a row, and had told Mrs V.’s mother that it was not their role to determine whether or not the children should go out for a walk. The officers had nevertheless cautioned Mrs V.’s mother and Mr V. to act lawfully and to resolve any disputes between them via the proper legal channels. According to the applicants, the reason the 112 call had been made was that Mr V. had entered the flat, tried to pull the children out and pushed Mrs V.’s mother. The applicants further stated that shortly after the visit by the police, Mrs V. had come back home and had allowed Mr V. to take the children out, apparently because she had seen that he was accompanied by his brother, whom she trusted. Incident on 13 February 2017 Complaint to the police 14 .     In the late evening of 13 February 2017, Mrs V. complained to the Sofia police that, following a row between them, Mr V. had chased her, first by car and then on foot, insulting and threatening her. She said that she feared for her life and was scared of leaving her home alone or with her children. 15 .     In a deposition she made at 1.19 a.m. the following day, 14 February 2017, Mrs V. explained that she had met with Mr V. in his car at his request, to discuss what to do with their daughters. In response to her telling him that she wanted a divorce, he had insulted and threatened her. She had got out of the car at a red light, but he had chased her, first in the car and then on foot. Since this had not been his first display of aggression towards her, the children and her mother, she had feared that he might assault her. She had managed to outrun him and had called a friend living in a nearby building, and Mr V. had given up the chase. 16 .     In a deposition which she made at 1.33 a.m., Mrs V.’s friend confirmed that she had received a call from Mrs V., who had sounded very frightened, and that she had still been frightened when the friend had gone to her home shortly after that. The friend also relayed Mrs V.’s story about the chase, as heard by her in the course of that visit, and expressed her fear about the risk to Mrs V.’s life. 17 .     On an unspecified date the officer in charge of the case summoned Mr   V. to the police station to obtain from him a statement about Mrs V.’s allegations. When he came to the station on 23 February 2017, Mr V. conceded that he had met with Mrs V. on 13 February 2017, but denied having threatened her physically. The officer in charge of the case nevertheless cautioned him not to make threats or carry out acts of violence against his wife. 18 .     On 7 March 2017 a junior officer also working on the case recommended, with reference to the information about that incident and about the earlier ones on 14 November 2016 and 1 January 2017 (see paragraphs 9 and 13 above), that no charges be brought against Mr V. On 22 March 2017 the Sofia district prosecutor’s office agreed with the proposal and refused to open criminal proceedings with respect to the incident. It noted that making insults and threats were privately prosecutable offences (see paragraph 64 below), and that there was no evidence that Mr V. had breached the terms of a protection order contrary to Article 296 § 1 of the Criminal Code (see paragraph 53 below), since the incident had taken place four days before the issuing of an interim protection order against him (see paragraph 21 below). 19 .     When interviewed about his work on the case in the course of the ensuing internal investigation (see paragraphs 42-43 below), one of the two officers in charge of it stated that he had not attempted to obtain further information from Mrs V. or her friend as their initial depositions had been comprehensive enough. Protection-order proceedings (a)    Proceedings before the Sofia District Court 20 .     On 16 February 2017, three days after the incident on 13 February 2017 (see paragraphs 14-17 above), Mrs V. brought protection-order proceedings against Mr V. in relation to it (see paragraphs 47-50 below). 21 .     On 17 February 2017 the Sofia District Court issued an interim protection order without prior notice to Mr V., barring him from coming within one hundred metres of Mrs V. until the final disposal of the case. It found, without giving details in that respect, that enough evidence existed of a direct and immediate threat to her life and health. 22 .     On 15 June 2017 the Sofia District Court, which heard the case in Mr   V.’s absence – he did not appear despite having been duly summoned – issued a final protection order against him, ordering him under section 5(1) of the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act 2005 (see paragraph 48 below) to refrain from acts of domestic violence against Mrs V., and barring him from coming within one hundred metres of her and her home and places of leisure for one year. The court also imposed on Mr V. the minimum possible fine: 200 Bulgarian levs (BGN) (equivalent to 102 euros (EUR)) (see paragraph 49 below). It did so on the basis of the incident on 13 February 2017 (see paragraphs 14-17 above). It found that on that date Mr V. had insulted and threatened Mrs V. The court went on to say that in view of the purely psychological nature of the violence, the combination of measures ordered by it appeared sufficient to deter Mr V. from further acts of domestic violence and that it was superfluous to resort to harsher measures or give him a bigger fine (see реш. № 146709 от 15.06.2017 г. по гр. д. № 9621/2017   г., СРС ). 23 .     The decision to issue the final protection order was apparently not validly appealed against and, according to the records of the Sofia District Court, became final on 7 August 2017. (b)    Notification of the interim protection order to the Sofia police and steps taken by them in connection with that order 24 .     According to the records of the Sofia District Court, on 20 February 2017, three days after the interim protection order had been issued (see paragraph 21 above), it sent copies of it to two police departments in Sofia: the one in charge of the area where both Mr V. and Mrs V. had their permanent and current addresses, and also the one in charge of the area comprising the address mentioned as that of Mr V. in Mrs V.’s statement of claim. 25 .     The court’s letter was received by the latter police department on 2   March 2017. On an unspecified later date an officer from the department found Mr V.’s mobile telephone number and called him. Mr V. told her that he did not live there. The officer and another officer nevertheless visited the address and, having inspected the building and spoken to the concierge, confirmed that indeed no one lived in the flat. Accordingly, on 17 March 2017 the police department sent the interim protection order back to the Sofia District Court. 26 .     The other police department, that in charge of the area where both Mr   V. and Mrs V. had their permanent and current addresses in Sofia, received the interim protection order on 27 February 2017. They put it on file but did not take any steps to contact either Mr V. or Mrs V. The ensuing internal investigation (see paragraphs 42-43 below) found that this omission had been contrary to point 20 of the operational guidance on police work under the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act 2005 (see paragraph 55 below). 27 .     It appears that the final protection order was not sent to the Sofia police. The ensuing internal investigation (see paragraphs 42-43 below) recorded that according to information obtained from the Sofia District Court that had not been done because the court’s decision to issue the order had been appealed against before the Sofia City Court. Incident on 17 August 2017 Emergency call 28 .     At 5.49 p.m. Mrs V. called the national emergency number 112 from her mobile telephone. The call lasted three minutes and fifty-four seconds. She told the call handler that Mr V. was acting in breach of the terms of the protection order against him. At first she said that he was driving behind her car, but then, when the call handler prompted her to elaborate, she stated that she could no longer see Mr V. In response to that information, the call handler told Mrs V. that she should lodge a written complaint with the territorially competent Sofia police department, and that since Mr V. was no longer nearby, it was pointless to dispatch a police patrol to the scene. He added that if Mr V. did anything further to breach the terms of the protection order, Mrs   V. should call the emergency number again. 29 .     The territorially competent police department in Sofia was apparently not informed of the emergency call. Written complaint to the police 30 .     As instructed by the call handler, just before 7 p.m. on 17 August 2017 Mrs V. went to the police department and lodged a written complaint about the incident. She stated that when driving home after leaving work at 5 p.m., she had seen Mr V. following her in his car, in breach of the final protection order against him (Mrs V. cited the number of the case in which the order had been issued, the order’s date, the formation of the Sofia District Court which had issued the order, and the order’s terms). Out of fear, she had called a friend and had gone to see her, and when she had parked her car to pick up her friend Mr V. had parked his car one car down from hers and had got out of the vehicle and come to about ten metres from her, in breach of the terms of the protection order against him (see paragraph 22 above). Mrs V.’s friend had then got into her car with her and when they had driven away, Mr V. had kept on driving behind them. The friend had then called the emergency number 112 and Mrs V. had spoken with the operator. After that they had lost Mr V. from sight and had gone directly to the police station. Mrs V. asked the police to take preventive measures before Mr V. did “something fatal” to her. 31 .     In a deposition made at about the same time, Mrs V.’s friend confirmed the story, adding that Mr V. had been wearing a baseball cap and dark glasses, in an apparent attempt to conceal his identity, and that when he had seen them driving away after the short stop, he had feverishly tried to find something in his car. 32 .     The duty officer registered the written complaint and reported it to the duty inspector. The inspector checked whether any protection orders were on file with respect to Mrs V. and, having established that this was the case, the following morning reported to the department’s deputy head. She assigned the case to another inspector, who in turn assigned it to yet another inspector and gave him twenty days to report back. Apparently no further steps were taken on 18 August 2017. 33 .     The ensuing internal investigation (see paragraphs 42-43 below) noted that even though Mrs V.’s complaint had contained enough information to give rise to a reasonable suspicion that Mr V. had wilfully disregarded the terms of a protection order contrary to Article 296 § 1 of the Criminal Code (see paragraph 53 below), the duty inspector had, in breach of his duties, failed to take immediate steps to ensure Mr V.’s arrest. He deserved to be reprimanded for that. Written complaint to the prosecuting authorities 34 .     Just before 12 noon the next day, 18 August 2017, Mrs V., accompanied by her friend, lodged a nearly identical complaint with the Sofia district prosecutor’s office, specifying that Mr V. owned a handgun and that she feared for her life. The friend made a deposition in which she confirmed those points. MRS V.’S SHOOTING AND DEATH ON 18 AUGUST 2017 35 .     After coming out of the premises of the Sofia district prosecutor’s office, at about 1.50 p.m. Mrs V. and her friend went to a coffee shop not far from where Mrs V. lived and sat on its terrace. Shortly before 3 p.m. Mr V., who had apparently spotted them, came up to them and asked Mrs V. whether they could talk about their children. She refused and warned him that she would call the police if he did not go away. He walked away, went back to his car, and parked it close to the coffee shop. He then got out of the car, wearing a handgun on his belt (for which he had had a firearms licence through one of his companies in 1998-2006), and again approached Mrs V. She repeated that she would call the police and started dialling the emergency number 112 on her mobile telephone, whereupon Mr V. shouted that she had ruined his life, pulled the handgun from under his T-shirt and shot her five times in the head and torso. Mrs V. died on the spot. Immediately after that Mr V. went to a police station to surrender. CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST MR V. 36 .     At the police station, Mr V. was arrested. On 22 August 2017 the Sofia City Court placed him in pre-trial detention, noting, in particular, that the way in which he had shot Mrs V. and his unstable mental state suggested that he might commit further offences if not deprived of his liberty. On 29 August 2017 the Sofia Court of Appeal upheld that decision, agreeing with its reasoning. 37 .     In late 2017 Mr V. was tried for aggravated murder and the unlawful possession of a firearm. On 5 January 2018 the Sofia City Court convicted him of those offences and sentenced him to a term of imprisonment of thirteen years and four months, to be served under the “severe regime”. It also ordered him to pay each of his daughters (the second and third applicants), who had brought civil-party claims against him, BGN 250,000 (EUR 127,822), plus interest, in respect of non-pecuniary damage (see прис. № 1 от 05.01.2018   г. по н. о. х. д. № 5051/2017 г., СГС ). 38 .     The court noted, in particular, that a limited liability company run by Mr V. had been granted a firearms licence in 1998 (see paragraph 60 below), and that this licence had been renewed in 1999, 2000 and 2003 but had expired in 2006, which meant that for the whole subsequent period Mr V.’s possession of his handgun had been unlawful. 39 .     The court went on to say that it found credible the evidence of Mrs   V.’s friend about the earlier threats against her, and that Mrs V.’s complaints to the police and the prosecuting authorities and the protection order issued in her favour were all evidence that she had had serious grounds to fear Mr V. When determining Mr V.’s sentence, the court took the harassment to which he had subjected Mrs V. during the months before her murder and his death threats against her as an aggravating factor. 40 .     The first applicant, acting on behalf of the second and third applicants, appealed against the sentence, asking the Sofia Court of Appeal to increase it to life imprisonment. She argued, among other things, that the lower court had not sufficiently taken Mr V.’s prior conduct into account. In May 2018 the Sofia Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s judgment in full (see реш.   № 190 от 10.05.2018 г. по в. н. о. х. д. № 240/2018 г., САС ). It held, among other things, that when fixing Mr V.’s sentence the lower court had correctly assessed the harassment to which he had subjected Mrs V. during the months before her murder and his death threats against her as an aggravating factor. 41 .     Mr V. appealed on points of law, challenging only the decision in relation to his initial prison regime. In October 2018 the Supreme Court of Cassation held, chiefly on the basis of Mr V.’s poor state of health (he was by then suffering from advanced-stage prostate cancer) and the low risk that he presented, that he was to begin serving his sentence under the “general regime”, which was more lenient. The court upheld the lower courts’ judgments in all other respects, save for the legal characterisation of one of the aggravating elements – relating to the nature of the murder weapon – of the offence (see реш. № 205 от 19.10.2018 г. по н. д. № 778/2018 г., ВКС, II н. о. ). INTERNAL INVESTIGATION BY THE POLICE 42 .     On 25 August 2017 the police opened an internal investigation to assess whether the operating procedures in domestic-violence cases had been properly followed in Mrs V.’s case. The investigation was conducted by four inspectors. They took written statements from a number of officers involved in handling Mrs V.’s complaints and the protection orders in her favour, and obtained various other materials. 43 .     The investigation report was completed about seven weeks later, on 5   October 2017, and ran to twenty pages. It described in detail all the steps taken by the police in Mrs V.’s case and made various recommendations, including for disciplinary action (see paragraphs 12, 19, 26-27 and 33 above). It appears that ten officers were given disciplinary punishments on the basis of the report’s findings. Three of them were punished with a reprimand (the third harshest punishment available by statute) for a period of six months. There is no information about the punishments given to the other seven officers. RELEVANT LEGAL FRAMEWORK BULGARIAN DOMESTIC LAW Protection Against Domestic Violence Act 2005 44 .     Protection from domestic violence in Bulgaria is chiefly governed by the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act 2005, in force since March   2005 and amended several times after that: in December 2009, December 2010, July 2015, and March and December 2019. 45 .     Section 2 of the Act, as amended in December 2009, defines “domestic violence” as “any act of physical, sexual, psychological, emotional or economic violence, as well as any attempt [to carry out] such violence, [or] coerced restrictions on the private life, personal liberty or personal rights of people who are in kinship or are or have been in a family relationship or been de facto spouses”. 46 .     The Act provides for two avenues of redress with respect to domestic violence: (a) protection-order proceedings before the district courts (see paragraphs 47-55 below), and (b) a request to the police (see paragraphs   56 ‑ 58 below) (section 4(1) and (2)). Protection-order proceedings (a)    Manner in which the proceedings take place before the courts 47 .     In cases of domestic violence the victim may seek a protection order (sections 4(1) and 8(1)). He or she must lodge the application within one month of the act(s) said to amount to such violence (section 10(1)). The application must be heard no more than a month after its receipt by the court (sections 12(1) and 18(4)). The proceedings take place at first instance before the district courts, and on appeal before the regional courts, whose decisions are final (sections 7 and 17(1) and (6)). The appeal has no suspensive effect (section 17(3)). 48 .     By section 5(1) and (2), as amended in December 2009, a court to which an application for protection against domestic violence is made may: (a) order the perpetrator to refrain from domestic violence; (b) remove the perpetrator from the family home for a period of time (up to eighteen months); (c) bar the perpetrator from approaching the victim, his or her home, workplace, social-gatherings and places of leisure, under certain conditions and for a period fixed by the court (up to eighteen months); (d) provisionally place the couple’s children, if any, with the victim, under certain conditions and for a period fixed by the court (up to eighteen months), unless that goes against the children’s interest; (e) order the perpetrator to attend specialised programmes; and (f) direct the victim(s) to rehabilitation programmes. The court may opt for a combination of any of those measures (section 16(1)). 49 .     In addition, the court must fine the perpetrator between BGN 200 (EUR 102) and BGN 1,000 (EUR 511) (section 5(4)). 50 .     If the application contains indications of a direct and immediate risk to the victim’s life or health, the court must issue, without prior notice to the perpetrator, an interim protection order. It must do so within twenty-four hours of receiving the application (section 18(1)). The interim order is not amenable to appeal and remains in effect for the duration of the main proceedings (section 19). (b)    Enforcement of interim and final protection orders by the police 51 .     A court which issues an interim or final protection order containing an injunction of the type mentioned in paragraph 48 (a), (b) or (c) above must send a copy of it to the police department(s) responsible for the area(s) where the perpetrator and the victim have their current address(es) (sections 16(3) and   18(2) of the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act 2005). That department is in charge of ensuring compliance with the order (section 21(1) of the Act, and regulation 6 of the 2010 regulations for the Act’s application). If the perpetrator breaches the terms of the order, the officer who establishes the breach must arrest him or her and inform the prosecuting authorities immediately (section 21(3)). The police must act upon being notified by the victim or by anyone who has identified the breach. If their inquiries confirm the breach, they must take the steps required under the Code of Criminal Procedure (regulation 7 §§ 1 and 2). If the breach does not amount to an offence, the police must caution those concerned not to commit further breaches (regulation 7 § 3). 52 .     By regulation 4 § 3 (2) of the regulations for the application of the 2005 Act, the Ministry of Internal Affairs must keep information about the enforcement of injunctions of the type mentioned in paragraph 48 (a), (b) or   (c) above, and by regulation 4 § 4 it must publish that information on its website. However, according to a November 2020 letter by the Ministry, which the Government enclosed with their observations, it did not keep comprehensive statistics about domestic-violence cases since it did not have an automated information system for doing so. According to the same letter, the police had received 2,440 protection orders in 2017, 2,981 in 2018, 3,240 in 2019, and 2,574 in 2020 (until the end of October) for enforcement. According to statistics presented by the applicants (which had been obtained by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee from the Ministry of Internal Affairs by way of a request for access to public information), in 2020 the police had received a total of 3,057 protection orders for enforcement. The Ministry could not say how many of those had been interim orders and how many final ones. Nor did the Ministry have data about how many times the police had informed the prosecuting authorities of breaches of such orders under section   21(3) of the 2005 Act. 53 .     Article 296 § 1 of the Criminal Code makes it an offence (wilfully) not to comply with a protection order (it also makes it an offence to obstruct the enforcement of a judicial decision). The penalty on conviction is up to three years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to BGN 5,000 (EUR 2,556). 54 .     According to statistics presented by the applicants (which they based on the annual reports of the respective prosecutor’s offices), the Sofia district prosecutor’s office and the Sofia regional prosecutor’s office had between them opened sixty-eight cases under Article 296 § 1 in 2017, 106 cases in   2018, and 124 cases in 2019. The Sofia regional prosecutor’s office had brought before the courts two alleged offenders under that provision in 2017, ten in 2018 and eleven in 2019. There was no such information about the Sofia district prosecutor’s office since it only provided more aggregated numbers. It was unclear how many of those cases had concerned alleged failures to comply with a protection order and how many concerned alleged obstructions of the enforcement of a judicial decision. 55 .     According to point 17 of the operational guidance on police work under the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act 2005 issued by the Minister for Internal Affairs in April 2012 (see paragraph 57 below), the officers in charge of the area where the perpetrator lives must ensure that he or she complies with an interim or final protection order which enjoins the perpetrator to refrain from domestic violence or bars him or her from approaching the victim, his or her home, workplace, social-gatherings and places of leisure (see paragraph 48 (a) and (c) above). The officer tasked with enforcing the order must, within three days of receiving it, among other things (a) talk to both the victim and the perpetrator, (b) advise the perpetrator that he or she must comply with the measures ordered by the court, and   (c)   warn him or her that failure to do so may result in arrest and charges under Article   296 § 1 of the Criminal Code (point 20). Any officer who establishes that the terms of a protection order have been breached must arrest the perpetrator under section 21(3) of the 2005 Act (see paragraph 51 above) and immediately inform the prosecuting authorities (point 23). Police protection 56 .     Section 4(2) of the 2005 Act, as amended in December 2009, provides that if indications exist that the victim’s life or health are at risk, he or she may, as well as applying for a protection order, also ask the police to take measures under the Ministry of Internal Affairs Act 2014. Such measures may include entering and inspecting premises with a view to, among other things, providing immediate assistance to people whose life, health or personal liberty are at risk (section 83(1)(3) of the 2014 Act). The earlier versions of section 4(2) of the 2005 Act referred specifically to that type of measure. 57 .     In April 2012 the Minister for Internal Affairs issued operational guidance ( методически указания ) on police work under the Protection Against Domestic Violence Act 2005. 58 .     By point 4 of that guidance, a duty officer who gets a report about a domestic-violence incident must, among other things, (a) immediately gather information about the people involved in the incident, its nature, and the possibility that the alleged perpetrator has a firearm and is likely to use it; (b)   if possible, dispatch two officers to check the report, and, while they are on their way to the scene, check for previous incidents involving the same people, and the existence of any protection orders or any firearms licences issued to the alleged perpetrator, and convey all that information to the two frontline officers; and (c) remain in constant contact with the alleged victim (or the person who made the report, as the case may be) and advise him or her about any security steps to be taken in the meantime. Even if the officers dispatched to the scene are told that no police intervention is required, they must still visit the scene and report in writing about their visit (point 4.5). They must, if necessary, arrest the alleged perpetrator, arrange for immediate investigation steps, take a statement from the alleged victim, and inform him or her of his or her rights to bring criminal charges or obtain protection (points   5.3, 5.4, 6, 7 and 8.1). They must also advise the alleged victim of the possibility, in the event of a risk to life or health, to request protection from the police (in addition to the possibilities to seek a protection order or complain to the prosecuting authorities – see paragraph 56 above) (point 8.3). They must also track down the alleged perpetrator if he or she is no longer at the scene, take a statement and caution him or her that he or she has broken the law and may bear liability for that (points 13 and 14). The officers must also take statements from any witnesses (point 15). Other potential avenues of protection from domestic violence 59 .     Article 67 § 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that a first ‑ instance court dealing with a criminal case may, at the request of the public prosecutor or the victim, bar the accused from (a) coming near the victim; (b)   contacting the victim in any way, including by telephone, post, email or fax; or (c) go to inhabited areas, regions or places where the victim resides or which the victim visits. The court must hear the application in public in the presence of the public prosecutor and the parties, and rule by means of a final decision (Article 67 § 3). The prohibition remains in place until the end of the proceedings (Article 67 § 4). Firearms control legislation 60 .     By section 50(3) of the Firearms, Ammunitions, Explosives and Pyrotechnical Products Act 2010 (which is similar to the provision it superseded, section 14(1) of the Control Over Explosives, Firearms and Ammunitions Act 1998), both legal persons and individuals may acquire firearms. The same provision makes that acquisition subject to a licence issued by the competent police authority. 61 .     By section 58(1)(8) of the 2010 Act, such a licence cannot be issued to a person who has been the target of a protection order (see paragraphs   47 ‑ 50 above) during the previous three years. This has been interpreted to mean both an interim and a final protection order (see реш.   №   2036 от 12.02.2013 г. по адм. д. № 15135/2012 г., ВАС, VII о. ; реш. № 613 от 17.01.2014 г. по адм. д. № 7770/2013 г., ВАС, VII о. ; and реш. № 1173 от 04.02.2016 г. по адм. д. № 14670/2015 г., ВАС, VII о. ). If   such an order is issued after the firearms licence has been granted, the authority which has issued the licence must withdraw it (section 155(1)), which also entails the immediate seizure of the firearms (section 213(1)). 62 .     The competent departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are in charge of ensuring compliance with the requirements of the 2010 Act (sections 152-54 of the Act, and Regulations No. Iz-2205 of 26 October 2012 on the manner of controlling activities involving firearms, ammunitions, explosives and pyrotechnical devices). They may, in particular, seize firearms (section 153(6)), and are required to do so when the relevant licence has not been renewed and the licence-holder has not surrendered the firearms (section   213a(1) of the 2010 Act). 63 .     Being in possession of a firearm without the requisite licence is a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment ranging from two to eight years (Article 339 § 1 of the Criminal Code). Criminal offences Making threats 64 .     Article 144 § 1 of the Criminal Code makes it an offence to threaten someone with an offence against his or her person or property, or against the persons or property of relatives, provided the threat is capable of causing a well-founded fear of its realisation. If the threat is a death threat, the offence is aggravated (Article 144 § 3). Making threats is a privately prosecutable offence, but not when the threats are death threats; they are then publicly prosecutable (Article 161 § 1). 65 .     By Article 144 § 3 of the Code, as amended in February 2019, the offence becomes aggravated also if committed “in conditions of domestic violence”. By Article 161 § 1, as amended also in February 2019, in that case the offence is publicly prosecutable. 66 .     Article 93 § 31 of the Code, also added in February 2019, defines an offence committed “in conditions of domestic violence” as an offence preceded by systemic physical, sexual or psychological violence; by placing in economic dependency; or by coerced restrictions on the private life, personal liberty or personal rights of, inter alios , an (ex-)spouse or a de facto (ex-)spouse. 67 .     The February 2019 amendments were part of an overhaul of the Criminal Code intended, according to the explanatory notes drawn up by the members of parliament who introduced the amendments in October 2018, to strengthen current and provide new tools in the fight against domestic violence and violence against women. Stalking 68 .     Article 144a § 1 of the Criminal Code, added in February 2019 as part of the same legislative package (see paragraphs 65-67 above), makes it an offence systematically to follow someone and thus to arouse in him or her a well-founded fear for his or her own or his or her relatives’ life or health. Article 144a § 2 provides that “following” within the meaning of the first paragraph includes any conduct of a threatening character against a specific individual, which may consist in chasing that individual, making him or her aware that he or she is under surveillance, or making unwanted contact with him or her. By Article 161 § 2, as amended in February 2019, the offence is publicly prosecutable, but only on the basis of a complaint by the victim to the prosecuting authorities. 69 .     By Article 144a § 3, the offence becomes aggravated if committed “in conditions of domestic violence” (see paragraph 66 above). ISTANBUL CONVENTION 70 .     The relevant provisions of the Council of Europe Convention