The British Embassy to Bulgaria and the Center for the Study of Democracy jointly organized a lecture by Lord Slynn of Hadley, hosted by His Excellency Ian Soutar, UK Ambassador to Bulgaria, on May 7, 2002.

Lord Slynn of Hadley delivered a lecture on "The Role of the Judges and Their Work on Human Rights in Europe". Lord Slynn has practised as a barrister, including a period as Junior Counsel to the Treasury and as Queen's Counsel, before becoming a High Court Judge and President of the Employment Appeals Tribunal. Lord Slynn was appointed an Advocate General at the European Court of Justice in 1981 and a Judge of that Court in 1988. He has been a Lord of Appeal since 1992.

Lord Slynn made a historical review of the development of the European systems for protection of human rights explaining the absence of a uniform system with the different approaches of each of the European countries as regards to the human rights enforcement. He also highlighted the European Convention on Human Rights, and its development, as the first important legally binding instrument for the European states.

Lord Slynn stressed on the individual rights and freedoms, incorporated for the first time in the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which will eventually become part of the European treaties, such as the right for protection of personal data, the protection of the intellectual property and the prohibition of any discrimination based on genetic grounds.

The lecture, followed by a discussion, was attended by representatives of the government, among them Ms. Miglena Tacheva, Deputy Minister of Justice, and Justice Dimitar Gochev, Constitutional Court, MPs, the judiciary, representatives of foreign missions, academics, NGOs and journalists.