Flying or landing? The pilot judgment procedure in the changing European human rights architecture

Abstract

Polyana Valcheva, a member of the Bar in Bulgaria, was hit by the metaphorical boomerang twice. In 2004 she tipped a local prosecutor about possible documentary fraud by her former de facto spouse. In the course of the enquiry the investigating authorities found indications that Ms Valcheva herself had forged a document in order for her former partner to obtain a retirement pension. Criminal proceedings were started against both of them. Her tip about someone else led to her own prosecution. Finally, in 2010, she was acquitted. That same year she complained in Strasbourg about the excessive length of the proceedings, under Article 6 ECHR. In the summer of 2013 the European Court of Human Rights declared her complaint inadmissible.1