MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) — The European Court of Human Rights announced Monday it will freeze any examination of complaints against Bulgaria regarding its poor conditions of detention to form a pilot judgment on the issue.
"The European Court of Human Rights has decided to adjourn the examination of all pending applications against Bulgaria in which the applicants complain of poor conditions of detention, as well as all future applications raising the same issue, pending the potential adoption of a pilot judgment," the statement released on the court's website said.
At the moment, the court has received about 20 applications concerning "overcrowding and poor hygiene, and the alleged lack of effective domestic remedies" in Bulgarian correctional facilities.
The court can make the decision to freeze the examination of cases and form a comprehensive pilot judgment if it receives multiple complaints on the same matter. In this judgment, the court obliges a member state to address the root of the systematic problems and take appropriate measures.
The European Court of Human Rights is an international court established by the European Convention on Human Rights comprising the Council of Europe's 47 member states.
