News

10 June 2025 

The Ombudsman Institution sent an opinion to the Chair of the National Assembly Nataliya Kiselova, the Chair of the Labour and Social Policy Committee Denitsa Sacheva, the acting Chief Prosecutor Borislav Sarafov, the Minister of Justice Georgi Georgiev, and the Minister of Labour and Social Policy Borislav Gutsanov regarding the illegal provision of social services for elderly people and people with disabilities (dementia and mental illness), once again recommending urgent legislative changes to the Penal Code and the Social Services Act.

The reason for this opinion is that on 7 June 2025, information was once again made public about yet another case of appalling human rights violations against elderly people held in inhumane, degrading, and humiliating conditions in the village of Yagoda, Stara Zagora region. The people were placed in so-called “rental rooms,” which are in fact an illegally provided social service. On 8 June 2025, a similar situation was found in a home in the village of Govedartsi, Sofia region, and after an inspection there, the residents were also urgently removed.

“The Ombudsman Institution considers that all cases involving the unlawful provision of social services and the cruel and inhuman treatment of persons placed in such services constitute torture within the meaning of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of the United Nations and the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of the Council of Europe. On 1 August 2022, Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva submitted to the National Assembly a proposal for legislative changes to the Penal Code to criminalize acts that humiliate human dignity by causing physical pain or suffering, by introducing a new criminal offence, which includes acts that meet the definitions of torture, ill-treatment, and degrading treatment,” emphasized Dr. Aysun Avdjiev, Secretary General of the National Public Defender's Office.  

Since 2022, the Ombudsman has been urging to amend the Penal Code to criminalize the illegal provision of social services, including changes to the Social Services Act to empower the Social Services Quality Agency to close down existing social services with a revoked, expired or missing licences. She has insisted that a new provision be created, under which mayors, together with the Ministry of Interior authorities, are required to check every six months social services that have had their licence terminated, revoked, or cancelled under the Social Services Act, for a period of five years.

Following yet another shocking case of serious human rights violations against elderly people held in inhumane, degrading, and humiliating conditions in the village of Yagoda, Stara Zagora region, the Ombudsman Institution has drawn four conclusions:

First, any adult citizen in Bulgaria can rent out rooms to people with disabilities and perform a social service without being penalized.

Second, there is no institution in Bulgaria that is responsible when someone illegally provides health and social services to elderly people with disabilities.

Third, the number of high-quality health and social services for people with disabilities is extremely low, while the number of people in need of accommodation is very high.

Four, no institution is investing in human resources to build teams to work with and assist people with disabilities.

We would like to remind you that as early as 2022, the problem of the lack of licenses for homes providing social services for elderly people with disabilities and mental health problems was identified by the Ombudsman Institution. The reason was an urgent inspection at the St. George Home for Elderly People with Mental Disorders and Mental Retardation in Varna. Four people died in a fire there. At that time, Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva publicly presented extremely alarming findings regarding the provision of such services by unlicensed providers.

The inspection then found that the service provider, company “A 2017” EOOD, had received dozens of mandatory orders for established violations and had been issued administrative violation reports under Article 9(2) of the Social Services Act (SSA). The home did not meet any of the standards for the provision of social services. Despite this, it continued to operate and accept new users. Тhis endangered the lives and health of the residents, whose rights were systematically violated. The Ombudsman found that in just four months, 20 people had died in this home and four had died in a fire on 8 May 2022. This is nearly a quarter of all users accommodated at that time. Following the Ombudsman's inspection, all institutions  — the Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Social Services Quality Agency, and the Ministry of Justice — explained that there was no legal framework under which such illegal activities could be sanctioned.

The Ombudsman then recalled that, pursuant to Article 36(3) of the Health Act, regional health inspectorates (RHI) shall establish and maintain a public register of public facilities under the conditions and in accordance with the procedure laid down in an ordinance of the Minister of Health. In this regard, Ordinance No. 9 of 21 March 2005 on the conditions and procedure for creating and maintaining a public register of public facilities controlled by the RHIs, has been issued and is currently in force. Annex 1 to Article 1(2) and Article 9(2) lists the public facilities controlled by the RHIs, where point 42 expressly mentions "Specialized institutions for the provision of social services - homes for children, homes for elderly people with disabilities, social training and vocational centers, homes for the elderly, shelters, and temporary accommodation centers."

Based on the findings in the report and the inspections carried out by the SSQA in 2022, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria recommended that the Minister of Health, in view of the numerous deaths in the home owned by the company "A 2017" EOOD and in order to prevent immediate danger to the life and health of the people living there, on the basis of Article 38(3) of the Health Act, order Varna Regional Health Inspectorate to carry out an urgent inspection and, if the danger already identified by the Ombudsman was confirmed, the necessary orders be issued to suspend the operation of the facility and evacuate the residents with the assistance of the Social Assistance Agency.

At that time, Ombudsman Diana Kovacheva emphasized that Article 38(3) of the Health Act was clear and categorical about cases where there was an immediate danger to human life and health. State health inspectors must immediately stop the operation of the facility or parts thereof or the relevant activity by order, determine measures to remedy the violations, and immediately notify the director of the regional health inspectorate.

To date, neither the Minister of Health nor the Director of the Regional Health Inspectorate in Varna have responded to the Ombudsman regarding the actions taken in relation to issuing a closure order in accordance with Ordinance No. 9 of 21 March 2005 on the conditions and procedure for establishing and maintaining a public register of public facilities controlled by the Regional Health Inspectorate, and whether an inspection has been carried out.

“The most worrying aspect for the Ombudsman Institution is that, under the provisions of the Social Services Act, violators are only subject to administrative penalties and may be fined or have their property seized. The legislation does not provide for more serious penalties for repeat violations, nor for coercive administrative measures such as closing homes and removing users where frequent and numerous violations have been found,” writes the Ombudsman's Secretary General, Dr. Aysun Avdjiev, to the competent authorities.

He points out that the Ombudsman has been recommending since 2022 that the Minister of Labour and Social Policy take urgent action to introduce legislation to amend the Social Services Act by introducing a compulsory administrative measure to “terminate operations” for facilities found to be providing social services without a licence.

Unfortunately, there is currently no such provision, and the penalty for carrying out such activities without a licence is only a fine or a financial penalty. Furthermore, the Ombudsman recommended that the Ordinance on the Quality of Social Services should regulate the procedure for the urgent removal of social service users from places that do not meet the legal requirements (unlicensed, with an expired or revoked license), and that these users be offered alternative social services that meet their specific needs in a timely manner.

Another serious recommendation made by Diana Kovacheva at the time, related to the illegal provision of such social services, was addressed to members of parliament during the presentation of her 2022 Annual Report: to amend the Penal Code to criminalize the illegal provision of social services.

In addition, the Ombudsman recommended amending the Social Services Act to empower the Social Services Quality Agency to close down existing social services whose licences have been revoked.

These legislative recommendations of the Ombudsman were presented to the National Assembly on 28 September 2023 to the Committee on Human Rights and Religious Affairs, to the Committee on Children, Family, Youth, and Sports on 4 October  2023, to the Committee on Direct Citizen Participation and Interaction with Civil Society on 5 October  2023, and to the Committee on Education and Science on 31 January 2024.

“All members of parliament agreed with the Ombudsman that such acts by citizens providing illegal social services to people with severe disabilities are absolutely unacceptable and that urgent action must be taken to amend the legislation on the criminal prosecution of such acts,” Aysun Avdjiev writes.

He recalls that in 2022, following the presentation of the report on the four burned users housed in the illegal home “St. George” in Varna, the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria undertook to assist in amending the Penal Code —separating into separate offences crimes related to the provision of illegal social services, especially to people with severe disabilities, which directly endanger their health and life.

“Unfortunately, none of the Ombudsman's recommendations were implemented and the cases were repeated in 2023 (the death of a 94-year-old woman placed in an illegal center for elderly people with dementia in the village of Izgrev, Pleven region), in 2024 (one elderly person with disabilities burned to death and three injured as a result of a fire that broke out in an illegal home for the elderly in the town of Bankya) and in 2025, with people with disabilities dying in such illegal homes,” Avdjiev said.

He recalls that with regard to the death in 2023 in an illegal home in the village of Izgrev, in response to the MLSP with ref. No. 92-696/29.09.2023, the Ombudsman was informed that as early as 2022 the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy had raised with the Ministry of Justice the issue of regulating the criminal liability of persons who provide social services without a licence or do not comply with the standards and criteria for the quality of social services set out in the Ordinance on the Quality of Social Services, when these violations endanger the life and health of persons using social services. He points out that the problem has also been raised at the interinstitutional level in letters from the Minister of Labour and Social Policy (letter with ref. No. 04-12-231 of 15.08.2022, No. 04-12-281 of 07.10.2022 and No. 04-12-301 of 02.11.2022 to the Minister of Justice, letter with ref. No.11-00-88 of 16.09.2022 to the Chief Prosecutor of the Republic of Bulgaria, letter ref. No. 04-02-304 of 19.09.2022 to the Minister of the Interior, letter No. 04-12-197/20.09.2023 to the Ministry of Justice). According to information from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the proposal to amend the Penal Code is supported by the Ministry of Interior and the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Bulgaria.

In an order by the Pleven Regional Prosecutor's Office No. 5161/01.03.2023, regarding a case initiated following a report by the Ombudsman on the death in an illegal home in the village of Izgrev, the Prosecutor's Office stated that the provision of social services without a licence is not criminalized by the legislator in the Penal Code of the Republic of Bulgaria and essentially constitutes an administrative offence. The penal order is issued by the executive director of the Social Services Quality Agency or by an official to whom he has delegated this power. The establishment of violations, the issuance, appeal, and enforcement of the penal orders are carried out in accordance with the Administrative Violations and Penalties Act.

The Secretary General of the Ombudsman emphasizes that in 2024, after one elderly person burned to death and three were injured in a fire that broke out in an illegal care home in the town of Bankya, the Ombudsman Institution again referred the matter to the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy with a recommendation to take urgent action to regulate the criminal liability of persons who provide social services without a licence or do not comply with the standards and criteria for the quality of social services, and these actions endanger the life and health of persons using social services. Once again, there was no response from the institutions.