Autore: Alessandro Ferminelli

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

FIRST SECTION

CASE OF CANNAVACCIUOLO AND OTHERS v. ITALY

(Applications nos. 51567/14 and 3 others –

see appended list)

JUDGMENT

Art 34 • Victim • Locus standi • Systematic, decade-long, widespread and large-scale pollution phenomenon caused by illegal dumping, burying and/or uncontrolled abandonment of hazardous, special and urban waste, often carried out by criminal organised groups, in parts of the Campania region (“Terra dei Fuochi”) • Applicant associations not “directly affected” by alleged violations stemming from a danger to health due to exposure to the pollution phenomenon • Lack of applicant associations’ standing to act on behalf of their members • Victim status/locus standi criteria set out in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland [GC] not applicable as limited to climate-change context • Absence of any other “special considerations” to grant standing to the applicant associations without a specific authority to do so • Lack of sufficient evidence that certain of the applicants or their relatives lived in areas affected by the pollution phenomenon • Incompatibility ratione personae

Art 2 (substantive) • Positive obligations • Life • Existence of a sufficiently serious, genuine, ascertainable and imminent risk due to the ongoing pollution phenomenon • Existence of a protective duty not negated by the lack of scientific certainty as to the precise effects the pollution might have on an applicant’s health • Art 2 applicable • Authorities’ failure to approach the Terra dei Fuochi problem with the diligence warranted by the situation’s seriousness and to take all steps required to protect the applicants’ lives • Lack of a systematic, coordinated and structured response

Art 46 • Pilot judgment • Detailed general measures indicated by the Court to be implemented within two years from the judgment’s finality to address the Terra dei Fuochi problem • Need for a comprehensive strategy bringing together existing or envisaged measures, an independent monitoring mechanism and a public information platform • Adjournment of similar pending cases not yet notified to the Government

Art 41 • Just satisfaction • Non-pecuniary damage • Reserved

Prepared by the Registry. Does not bind the Court.