Yonko Grozev

Programme Director, Legal Studies

Yonko Grozev was the director of the Legal Defence Programme of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee since its establishment in 1995 until 2005. He has filed and won a large number of cases before the European Court of Human Rights on, among others, the right to life, prohibition of torture, freedom of speech, religion and association. The cases he has litigated internationally have produced and continue to produce legislative changes and changes in public sentiments to human rights in general. For his outstanding work in the field, Yonko Grozev was awarded the 2002 International Human Rights Award from the American Bar Association Section of Litigation. In addition to his international and domestic litigation work, Yonko Grozev has been active in research and advocacy on improving the work of the justice system in Bulgaria, also in his capacity of a member of the Centre for Liberal Strategies team since 1994. He has also been active in providing trainings to CEE lawyers on litigation techniques before the ECHR. He is a graduate of the Harvard Law School.