HAVET & VANHUFFEL – Association d’avocats
By judgment of January 30, 2025 (no. 028/2025 – Cannavacciuolo and others v. Italy), the European Court of Human Rights condemns Italy under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to life) for not having acted to protect the population when it knew of the existence of dangerous spills and gives it two years to remedy the situation.
The case concerns the dumping, burial and incineration of waste on private land, often by organized criminal groups, in the parts of the Campania region known as Terra dei Fuochi, where approximately 2.9 million people reside.
Increased rates of cancer and groundwater pollution have been observed in the affected area.
The Court clarifies that the victimstatus criteria set out in its judgment n°53600/20 (ECHR, n°53600/20, Verein, Klimaseniorinnen Schweiss et autres v. Zuitzerland – https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-233258%22]}) are limited to climatchange context and are, hence, not applicable in the case of waste pollution.
The Court Confirms its approach from the judgement n°37657/14 (ECHR, n°37857/14, 7 decembre 2021, Yusufeli İl Çenisi Güzellestirme Yasatma, Kültür Varliklarini Koruma Dernegi v. Turkey – https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-215461%22]}), reiterating that where an association relies exclusively on the individual rights of its members, and without showing it has itself been substantially affected in any way, it cannot be granted victim status under a substantive provision of the Euopean Court of Human Rights.
The Court Refuses to applicant associations, holding that they are not “directly affected” by danger. The court receives request from natural persons.
The Italian State, although it is demonstrated that it was aware of it, did not respond to this extremely serious situation with the diligence and speed required with regard to assessing the problem, taking measures to prevent its continuation and communicating with the affected population.
To do this, it is based on Article 2 of the European Convention for the protection of Human Rights which enshrines the right to life.It orders Italy, on the basis of Article 46 of the Convention (consecrating the binding force of its judgments), to develop a global strategy to remedy the situation, to set up an independent monitoring mechanism and create a public information platform within two years and postpones the case in order to raise the matter again at the end of this period.
The judgment is available via the link : https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-241395%22]}.