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Description
Access to justice in Bulgaria is challenged for many groups of vulnerable people. People with mental health disorders are a particularly vulnerable group that often falls prey to manipulation and abuse by the surrounding environment, including their close family members when it comes to exercising rights following court proceedings. The justice system is not aware at present of social services and opportunities for support that can be provided to this vulnerable group and that will enable both the individual to protect their rights and the court to deliver better and fairer judgements for the individual and the public. The project aims to join the efforts of practising judges, lawyers and civil society organizations to develop and endorse an innovative algorithm for the application of procedures guaranteeing the rule of rights in line with the most up-to-date international legislative acts on rights protection. The model will mainly focus on placement in specialized institutions under the Social Assistance Act and for compulsory treatment under the Health Act. The main project outcome will be to create tools that will turn the court into a social centre integrating knowledge and support for people in a vulnerable state. The project activities will help: 1) develop new and specialized training materials ensuring that the rights of people with mental health disorders will be respected at every stage of the court proceedings, 2) discuss them with the users and the stakeholders, carry out training and discussions and 3) endorse the developed tools in the justice system that will be reformed in a sustainable way. The case law will be also reformed which will ensure better and fairer judgments for people. The main target groups are: judges, prosecutors and civil society organizations and the beneficiaries will be people with mental health disorders.