Born : 5 June 1964 in Teteven.

EDUCATION
1979-1982 Secondary education at the Teteven Grammer School.
1989 Graduated from the Law Faculty of Kliment Ohridski University in Sofia.
September - October 1992 A training course for lawyers on issues related to human rights and the European Convention held in Strasbourg under the auspices of the Council of Europe.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
1990-1992 Prosecutor at the Plovdiv District Prosecutor's Office
June 1992 Entered the Plovdiv College of Barristerss

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Working mostly in the field of criminal law and international public law.

Efforts for the last three years focussed on clients' applications to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. (So far, over 40 applications of Bulgarian citizens have been submitted to the European Court against violations made by the national authorities. The decisions of the European Commission on applications by clients of mine were among the first decisions in "Bulgarian" cases (P. Ilijkov v. Bulgaria No 33977/96; B.Dimova v. Bulgaria No 31806/96 and I. Nikolova v. Bulgaria No 31195/96.

On 25 March 1999 the Judgement of the European Court in the case of "Ivanka Nikolova" was ruled, which, together with the "Assenov" case, revealed basic discrepancies between the Bulgarian Code of Criminal Procedure and the European Convention and provoked the most radical reform in criminal procedure for the past years.)

Member of the editorial board of Human Rights Magazine issued by the Bulgarian Centre of Human Rights. Articles published on discrepancies between the national law and the European Convention norms.

Invited to lecture at a number of seminars and meetings on human rights subjects held with the patronage of the following organisations: "Interrights", London; "Bulgarian Helsinki Committee"; "Bulgarian Centre of Human Rights"; "Bulgarian Lawyers for Human Rights"; Open Society Foundation, etc.

Founder of the non-governmental right-protecting organisation "Association for European Integration and Human Rights" in Plovdiv, the policy project of which ("Beginning"), financed by the Open Society Foundation, has led to the creation of a specialised legal agency dealing with human rights and providing individuals with free legal aid.