Monitoring the Right to Free Assembly Pavleta Alexieva Aylin Yumerova Margarita Kaloyanova Radina Banova Nadya Shabani 2017 Bulgaria 2018 #right2freeassembly A TIME TO PROTEST: THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY IN BULGARIA Research report on citizens’ right to freedom of peaceful assembly Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law, 2017 - 2018 “... a group of shrill women who wanted to capitalize on Authors: Pavleta Alexieva, Aylin Yumerova, Margarita Kaloyanova, Radina Banova (Bulgarian Center their children, manipulating society, bringing these – presumably for Not-for-Profit Law) sick – children out in the scorching sun and in the rain, without a Editor: Nadya Shabani (Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law) hint of a motherly feeling of care for them...”, Published in May 2019 spoken by Valeri Simeonov, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Demographic Policy in the Third Government of Boyko This publication has been developed within the framework of the “Support to Civil Society Organizations Borissov, on occasion of the protest of mothers of children with Continued and Expanded” Project implemented by the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law and disabilities in 2018. financed by America for Bulgaria Foundation. The content and views expressed in this publication belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of America for Bulgaria Foundation. The monitoring report was conducted as part of the ‘Monitoring the Right to Free Assembly’ regional The Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law (BCNL) is a foundation registered under project, managed by the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) The project is made possible the Bulgarian law in 2001 as a non-profit public-benefit legal entity. BCNL’s mission is by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) through the Civic Space Initiative, and by the to provide support in the drafting and implementation of legislation and policies with Government of Sweden. The authors bear the sole responsibility for the content. the aim to advance the civil society, civil participation and good governance in Bulgaria. BCNL’s main activity is focused at developing laws and state strategies directly related to Copyright © 2019 by the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) and Bulgarian Center for the operation of civil organizations. Not-for-Profit Law (BCNL). All rights reserved. Please find more information on the activities of the organization and its partners and donors at www.bcnl.org (Stock photos are provided by Unsplash) Table of Contents I. Executive Summary 6 Bulgarian case law 25 CASE STUDIES – EXAMPLES OF EMBLEMATIC PROTESTS ORGANIZED IN II. Background and Context 11 Stakeholders 30 BULGARIA IN 2018 49 National legislation 15 IV. Administration of Freedom of VII. Recommendations 52 Assembly 30 III. Legal Framework 15 BIBLIOGRAPHY 56 Local Regulation 33 Regime of exercising the right to freedom of peaceful assembly 16 Deviations from the general notification periods 34 Role of the mayors in the procedure 18 A notification which becomes an Fees 19 “authorization” 34 Unannounced events (spontaneous Detailed notification sample forms 35 events) 19 Coordinating the route or venue 36 Restrictions on holding events under the ARMA 20 Wider Regulation 36 Amendments and unsuccessful Security guarantees and police attempts to change the Assemblies, participation 39 Rallies and Marches Act 21 V. Policing of Assemblies 39 International standards and case law 23 Media and protests 44 European Convention for the Protection VI. Criminalization of Protests 47 of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 23 I. Executive Summary The right to freedom of peaceful assembly authority and the police). in Bulgaria is regulated at a constitutional As at the autumn of 20181 we can say and legislative level in the Bulgarian legal that protests in Bulgaria have become framework – in the Constitution of the commonplace. At least one protest is covered Republic of Bulgaria and in the Assemblies, on a daily basis in news reports – with demands Rallies and Marches Act (ARMA). Most for better social policy, the resignation Bulgarian municipalities have further of a minister, rehabilitation of the urban developed secondary legislation, most often environment, mountain protection, stopping in the form of municipal public order the construction of specific buildings, etc. ordinances. Counter-protests are also a concomitant event, In view of the legislative norms and which is practically even naturally expected. implementation practices, the right to Despite the lack of official statistics, we can say freedom of peaceful assembly in Bulgaria that in Bulgaria, it is evident in recent years that has been regulated in accordance with the “protesting” is a common way of expressing international standards set out in numerous a civil position. Administrative obstacles are international documents. If there have been relatively few and fragmented in practice, “deviations” any , the reasons are due mostly so we cannot conclude that this right is not to the different practices of implementation exercised freely and democratically. Although, of the procedure at the local level, where not all municipal public order ordinances there are no express regulations, and in most provide a clear and specific algorithm of all cases through administrative duties and the the necessary actions that the citizens should imposition of penalties for non-compliance take to organize a meeting, rally or march, with them we can observe a transition municipal administrative staff and police “notification” “authorization- from a to an provide the necessary assistance to citizens based” regime for organizing the event. to exercise their right to right to freedom of This shortcoming allows the introduction of peaceful assembly. At present, objective and subjective and discretionary practices in the concrete threats to the exercise of the right to provision of the necessary assistance by the legally obligated state authorities (the local 1 The analysis of the legal framework is as at 2018. - 6 - - 7 - © Anastas Tarpanov peaceful assembly cannot be identified. 6. Case studies – interesting and emblematic administrations3. protection is ensured – the guarantee that if The present report reviews the legal, political examples of protests, which have taken • Direct observations – attending and there is a deviation in the interpretation of its and social environment in which the right place over the past few years, with important taking part in 12 peaceful assemblies, held content, a sufficient number of instruments to freedom of peaceful assembly in Bulgaria highlights drawn from them, feedback during the research period and presented are provided to restore the situation that the was exercised between 2017 and 2018. Our from stakeholders and their reflections on as emblematic cases in the present report. legal norm has intended. Last but not least all issues related to the exercising of the observations and findings from this period • Conducting validation meetings – after is the public acceptance and the critical view right to freedom of peaceful assembly, lead to the conclusion that in Bulgaria there the all 12 peaceful assemblies attended we of this right – where should the delineation have been the leading instrument of the are no serious threats, restrictions, neither were conducting validation meetings with line be and how are the people exercising it study; obstacles to the exercise of this right by the monitors and research team to present the perceived as a whole? Bulgarian citizens. 7. Comments, conclusions and cases, discuss reflected observations and The content of this study includes: recommendations – each section to reconcile the accumulated impressions. includes comments, conclusions and 1. Political and social context of the exercise recommendations on the legislative For the purpose of this report, the authors of citizens’ right to freedom of peaceful framework, its enforcement by the of the study have used different synonyms assembly; institutions and the effect on the people to present the main subject of the study 2. Legal framework – the primary legislation exercising the right to peaceful assembly. – “protest”, “public assembly”, “rallies”, and secondary legislation at the local level Regarding the methodology, several research “assembly”, “march” – but all of them express (municipal ordinances). The “prism”, through methods have been used in the course of the and derive from the right to freedom of which the legal framework is studied, study: peaceful assembly, namely – a temporary raises issues about the extent to which the assembly of a group of persons in a public Bulgarian legal norms provide guarantees • Materials research – studying legal acts, place in order to express a common position. in accordance with the international templates, procedures, sample forms, standards; whether the ordinances at the information pages and official websites; We would like to underline that freedom of local level “further develop” the legislative • Collection of key examples of peaceful peaceful assembly is a right, in order to avoid framework lawfully or not; to what extent assembly, held over the last 2 years a divergence in the starting position of analysis the specific instruments for exercising (2017 and 2018) and their presentation as of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. the right correspond to the objectives of emblematic cases; It is an individual human right, guaranteed the legislation.