site.btaCabinet Adopts Decision on Payment of EUR 1.6 Mln Compensation to Former King in Crown Woodlands Case against Bulgaria

The Council of Ministers Wednesday adopted a decision on the payment of EUR 1.6 million awarded by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his sister, Marie Louise Chrobok in their case against Bulgaria over a 2009 moratorium on the commercial use of woodlands that belonged to the Crown and was inherited by them.

The ECtHR awarded the compensation of EUR 1,635,875 to Bulgaria's former king and his sister, a former princess, back in May 2023. The Saxe-Coburg-Gotha won the case back in 2021, but the Court gave the two sides time to reach an agreement on a just satisfaction, which they could not do.

In 2021, the ECtHR found that there had been a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property) of the European Convention on Human Rights on account of the ban on any commercial exploitation of the plaintiffs' woodlands, and a violation of Article 6, Para 1. The case concerned the attempts by Simeon II and his sister to have property of 1,650 ha that had been under the Crown restored to them, and a moratorium on the transfer and on the commercial exploitation of former Crown property imposed in 2009. In particular, the ECtHR found that the actions by the Bulgarian authorities had placed a disproportionate individual burden on the applicants. The measures had been extraordinary, given that legislation providing for the conservation of forests had already been in place, had lasted too long, and had not been amenable to judicial review, leading to a violation. 

Under the ECtHR's decision, should the national courts ultimately decide that the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha are not owners of the woodlands in question, the two will have to return the compensation to the State. On January 18, 2024, the Sofia District Court ruled in favour of the State, but since the ruling is not final, the State has to pay the compensation set by the ECtHR.