Indicator 1(G): Can people with mental disabilities access effective mechanisms if they want to complain about their right to live in the community?

Conclusion:
No. Complaints and legal avenues are not available to people with mental disabilities under guardianship.

Explanation:

Where admission to a social care institution is denied, the decision can be appealed under the Administrative Procedure Code.^[32] Where the person is under plenary guardianship, only the guardian can challenge the non-provision of services to the person.^[33] Where the person is under partial guardianship, he or she can challenge the failure to provide services, but only with the consent of the guardian.^[34]

The same mechanisms apply when a person under guardianship seeks to terminate a contract for their placement in an institution. Only the guardian who can terminate such contracts, and their consent is required in the cases of people placed under partial guardianship.^[35] Often there is an inherent financial conflict of interest between the guardian and the person under guardianship, as relatives and directors of institutions can be appointed as guardians. The Bulgarian system of guardianship grants guardians the power to control the property of people under their guardianship.  Indeed, gaining control of property has been identified as a form of exploitation linked to guardianship.^[36] This situations means that justice is not directly available to people with mental disabilities under guardianship, and can be denied by exploitative guardians.