Dimitrov and Spasov v. Bulgaria

THIRD SECTION

Applications nos. 25173/23 and 28055/23 Dimitar Slavchev DIMITROV against Bulgaria and Slavcho Dimitrov SPASOV against Bulgaria

(see appended table)

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 17 September 2026 as a Committee composed of:

Úna Ní Raifeartaigh , President , Canòlic Mingorance Cairat, Vasilka Sancin, judges ,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above applications 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”) on the dates indicated in the appended table,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

The list of the applicants and the relevant details are set out in the appendix.

The applicants were represented by Mr. E. Kamenov, a lawyer practising in Sofia.

The applicants’ complaints under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention concerning the amount of compensation received at the time of expropriation of their properties were communicated to the Bulgarian Government, who submitted observations on the admissibility and merits. On 21 April 2026 those observations were forwarded to the applicants, who were invited to submit their own observations. No reply was received to the Registry’s letter.

By a letter sent through the Court’s Electronic Communication Service (eComms) on 4 June 2026, the applicants were notified that the period allowed for submission of their observations had expired on 2 June 2026 and that no extension of time had been requested. The applicants’ attention was drawn to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, which provides that the Court may strike applications out of its list of cases where the circumstances lead to the conclusion that the applicants do not intend to pursue the applications. The letter was not downloaded by the applicants’ representative and no response to it has been received by the Court. The applicants’ representative has not connected to his eComms account since 11 May 2026.

THE LAW

Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court

finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single decision.

In the light of the above developments, the terms of Rule 37 § 1 of the Rules of Court, according to which “[c]ommunications or notifications addressed to the ... advocates of the parties shall be deemed to have been addressed to the parties”, and paragraph 1 of the Practice Direction on Electronic Filing by Applicants, according to which “[a]fter the communication of a case, applicants who have opted to file pleadings electronically ... shall accept written communications sent to them by the Registry of the Court by means of eComms”, the applicants may be regarded as no longer intending to pursue the applications within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention.

In the light of the foregoing, and in the absence of any special circumstances regarding respect for the rights guaranteed by the Convention and the Protocols thereto, the Court, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the applications.

Accordingly, the cases should be struck out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

Decides to join the applications;

Decides to strike the applications out of its list of cases.

Done in English and notified in writing on 8 October 2026.

Viktoriya Maradudina Úna Ní Raifeartaigh Acting Deputy Registrar President

APPENDIX

List of applications

No.

Application no. Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

1.

25173/23

15/06/2023

Dimitar Slavchev DIMITROV

1967

2.

28055/23

15/06/2023

Slavcho Dimitrov SPASOV

1938