2 M.C. v. BULGARIA JUDGMENT Section (Rule 52 § 1). Within that Section, the Chamber that would consider the case (Article 27 § 1 of the Convention) was constituted as provided in Rule 26 § 1. 7. By a decision of 5 December 2002, the Chamber declared the application admissible. 8. The applicant and the Government each filed observations on the merits (Rule 59 § 1). The Chamber decided, after consulting the parties, that no hearing on the merits was required (Rule 59 § 3 in fine). In addition, third-party comments were received from Interights, a non-governmental organisation based in London, which had been given leave by the President to intervene in the written procedure (Article 36 § 2 of the Convention and former Rule 61 § 3). THE FACTS I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 9. The applicant is a Bulgarian national who was born in 1980. 10. She alleged that she had been raped by two men on 31 July and 1 August 1995, when she was 14 years and 10 months old. The ensuing investigation came to the conclusion that there was insufficient proof of the applicant having been compelled to have sex. A. The events of the night of 31 July to 1 August 1995 1. The evening of 31 July 11. On 31 July 1995 the applicant and a friend of hers had been waiting to enter a disco bar in the town of K., when three men, P. (21 years old at the time), A. (20 years old at the time) and V.A. (age not specified), arrived in a car owned by P. The applicant knew P. and A. She had met P. in the same disco bar and had danced with him once. A. was the older brother of a classmate of hers. 12. A. invited the applicant to go with him and his friends to a disco bar in a small town 17 km away. According to the applicant, she agreed on condition that she would be back home before 11 p.m. 13. In the bar, one or two of the group had drinks. The applicant saw some friends, with whom she had a short chat. According to the applicant, she repeatedly told the others it was time to leave, as it was getting late. 14. At some time late in the evening, the group left and headed back to K. On the way, they were briefly stopped and checked by traffic police.