HAVET & VANHUFFEL – Association d’avocats
Europe – In a judgment of 6 May 2025 (L.F. and Others v. Italy), the European Court of Human Rights condemned Italy for failing to take the necessary measures to protect the population against pollution from a smelter since 2006 (violation of Article 8 of the Convention – right to privacy).
The Court considers that, although measures were taken in 2020, they remained insufficient. It considers that the Italian Republic has not been able to strike a fair balance between, on the one hand, the applicants‘ interest in not suffering serious interference with the environment which might affect their private life and, on the other, the interest of society as a whole.
The applicants are 153 Italian nationals residing in Baronissi, Pellezzano and Salerno (Italy).The case concerns pollution caused by a foundry located near the applicants‘ home in the municipality of Salerno, which has been in operation since 1960. In 2006, the industrial area where it was located was classified as a residential zone, subject to the relocation of this factory.
No relocation took place, but the area was nevertheless opened to residential urbanization.
The foundry has been the subject of numerous inspections and administrative and criminal procedures, all of which have found shortcomings in its operation. From 2016 onwards, the authorities took measures, accompanied by monitoring, to reduce the harmful effects of the smelter on the environment and on the health of the local population as much as possible. The applicants invoked articles 2 (right to life) and 8 (right to respect for private and family life), and stated that the State’s authorisation of the residential development around the smelter and the State’s failure to take the necessary measures against the pollution had caused serious damage to the environment, endangered their lives and health and harmed their personal well-being. Many of them specifically claim that they suffer from cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological diseases.
The applicants also allege that the authorities failed to inform them of the risks of living in the vicinity of the plant and to involve them in the decision-making process concerning the authorization of its operation.
The Court considers that the Italian national authorities were unable to take all the necessary measures to ensure the effective protection of the rights of the claimants and in particular of persons, living within a radius of six kilometres of the plant, who are more vulnerable to pollution-related diseases, despite the tangible effects of the measures taken for the post-2016 period to reduce the adverse effects of the operation of the smelter.
The Court observes that after the publication of Decree No. 85/2020, the applicants continued to report foul-smelling and smoky emissions confirmed in a report of 18 July 2022. The Court also notes that in that report, the impact on the local population was not necessarily related to shortcomings, but was treated more as a potentially ordinary event, given the age of the plant and its current location in a densely populated area.
The Court notes that the monitoring activities carried out following the promulgation of Decree No 85/2020 referred to the legislative boundaries for industrial areas and not to the lower levels established by national law for residential areas.
The Court considers that, even after the promulgation of Decree No. 85/2020, a fair balance was struck between, on the one hand, the applicants‘ interest in not suffering serious interference with the environment that might affect their privacy and, on the other, the interest of society as a whole.
Holds, unanimously, that there has been a violation of Article 8 of the Convention;
Holds, by six votes to one, that the finding of a violation constitutes in itself sufficient just satisfaction for any non-pecuniary damage sustained by the applicants;
Holds, unanimously, that the respondent State is to pay to the applicants, jointly, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention:
(i) EUR 1,700 (one thousand seven hundred euros, in respect of costs and expenses incurred before the domestic courts, to be paid directly into the bank account of the applicants’ legal representative;
(ii) EUR 7,000 (seven thousand euros), in respect of costs and expenses incurred before the Court, to be paid directly into the bank account of the applicants’ legal representative;
Dismisses, by six votes to one, the remainder of the applicants’ claim for just satisfaction.
The Court does not grant the applicants‘ request to indicate to Italy the measures to reduce pollution, a violation of the Convention requiring the respondent State to choose the general measures to be adopted in its domestic legal order to put an end to the violation found by the Court and to correct its effects as far as possible. The Court only indicates exceptionally the type of general measures that could be taken to put an end to the situation found.
The judgment can be viewed via the following link: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#{%22documentcollectionid2%22:[%22GRANDCHAMBER%22,%22CHAMBER%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-243191%22]}