The administrative body incorrectly and unlawfully presumed that the applicant was an accompanied minor. Nonetheless, the minor was unlawfully detained, in violation of Bulgarian law which prohibits to apply coercive placement to unaccompanied minors. Based on this erroneous presumption, the authority also failed to apply the procedure under Article 64k of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Law on Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria (LFRB) on the legal procedure for unaccompanied minors. Furthermore, the requirements of Article 7a of the LFRB and Articles 8 and 15 of the Child Protection Act were not fulfilled, as the Social Assistance Directorate did not represent the applicant. These failures occurred despite the applicant’s classification as a vulnerable person under § 1, item 4b of the Law on Foreigners. The violation of this mandatory provisions rendered the detention unlawful and it was therefore annulled by the court.
Source here.
