The European Court of Human Rights has sentenced Bulgaria to pay EUR 2000 for non-pecuniary damage and EUR 950 for costs and expenses to the heirs of the applicant, Boris Kostov Mihailov.

The applicant, Boris Kostov Mihailov, is a Bulgarian national who was born in 1933 and lived in Sofia. He died on 16 April 2001. His son and daughter, Kostik Borisov Mihailov and Eleonora Borisova Mihailova, continued the proceedings on their father's behalf, the official site of the court said.

On 27 November 1989 the Labour Expert Medical Commission (LEMC) specializing in pulmonary diseases diagnosed the applicant as suffering from asbestosis and various other diseases and classified his disability as second degree. The applicant's health deteriorated and on 21 May 1998 another LEMC reclassified his disability as first degree, as he needed another person's assistance.

On 18 June 1998 the Central Labour Expert Medical Commission at the Ministry of Health overturned the decision of 21 May 1998 again classifying the applicant's disability status as second degree. Mihailov appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court, arguing that the reclassification affected the amount of disability pension to which he was entitled. On 6 October 1998 a three-member panel of the Supreme Administrative Court found that the decision was not subject to judicial review and declared the appeal inadmissible.

Mihailov complained about the Supreme Administrative Court's refusal to examine his appeal, relying on Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

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