Today, the European Court of Human Rights issued a judgment in the Case of M.C. v. Bulgaria holding the government of Bulgaria in violation of Articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.  The case arises from the failure of Bulgarian prosecutors to investigate sufficiently rape allegations because there was no direct evidence of significant physical resistance.  M.C., the applicant in this case, alleges that this is reflective of a predominant practice of prosecuting rape perpetrators only in the presence of significant physical resistance in contravention of the European Human Rights Convention, the policy of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and established principles of international criminal law.

Interpreting Articles 3 and 8 of the European Human Rights Convention:

The Court has interpreted Article3's prohibition of torture to require States to "take measures designed to ensure that individuals within their jurisdication are not subjected to ill-treatment, including ill-treatment administered by private individuals."  The Court has interpreted Article 8's protection of the right to respect for private and family life to require "efficient criminal-law provisions" to deter "grave acts such as rape, where fundamental values and essential aspects of private life are at stake."

Interpreting Articles 3 and 8 together, "[t]he Court considers that States have a positive obligation ... to enact criminal-law provisions effectively punishing rape and to apply them in practice through effective investigation and prosecution." 

Court Findings:

Applying this obligation to the facts of the case of M.C., and without making a determination on the guilt of the alleged perpetrators, the Court today found "that the effectiveness of the investigation of the applicant's case and, in particular, the approach taken by the investigator and the prosecutors in the case fell short of the requirements inherent in the States' positive obligations--viewed in light of the relevant modern standards in comparative and international law--to establish and apply effectively a criminal-law system punishing all forms of rape and sexual abuse", including in cases where there is no evidence of resistance.  The Court awarded to the applicant damages, costs and expenses in the amount of 12,110 Euros. 

Execution of the Judgment:

The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers will be supervising the execution of the Court's judgment in this case and will soon complete the case with a final resolution detailing steps Bulgaria will take to comply with the judgment.

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For a copy of the judgment, please see the European Court of Human Rights website.  For more information on the European Court of Human Rights, please see the International Law: European Human Rights System Section of this website.

Effective today, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation includes provisions which prohibit human trafficking and provide greater protection for trafficking victims. The new provisions define trafficking in persons as follows: the buying-selling of a person or other actions committed for the purpose of such persons exploitation in the form of recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of such person. Offenders may be imprisoned for up to five years.  The existence of aggravating circumstances may lead to prison sentences of up to10 or 15 years.  Aggravating circumstances include, but are not limited to, the trafficking of multiple persons, the trafficking of minors, and the death of a victim occuring as a result of the offenders' negligence. Before this legislation was enacted, trafficking offenders were most commonly prosecuted under existing rape, slavery, and false documentation laws.

For more information, please see the excerpts from the law included here.  For information about developments relating to violence against women in the Russian Federation, please see the Russian Federation Country Page on this website.

The NGO Partnership for Equality Center conducted a study funded by the Open Society Institute which concluded that 800,000 Romanian women suffered domestic violence in 2003.  The Center's findings include the following:

• 45 percent of domestic violence victims do not know that domestic violence is a crime, and
• 80 percent of domestic violence victims do not report the crime because of feelings of shame, fear and mistrust of the authorities.

Compiled from the NEWW Polska Newsletter No. 13, 23 December 2003. For more information concerning developments relating to violence against women in Romania, please see the Romania Country Page on this website.

The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, a protocol to the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, received its 40th ratification at the end of September 2003 and entered into force on 25 December 2003. For more information on the signatories and ratification of the protocol, see the website of  the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime. For more information on state party obligations under this protocol and other initiatives to combat trafficking see the Trafficking Law and Policy section of this website.