Cannavacciuolo and Others v. Italy

Legal summary January 2025 Cannavacciuolo and Others v. Italy - 39742/14, 51567/14, 74208/14 et al. Judgment 30.1.2025 [Section I] Article 2 Positive obligations Article 2-1 Life Failure to diligently deal with systematic, decade-long, widespread and large-scale pollution phenomenon in the Campania region (“Terra dei Fuochi”) and to take all steps required to protect the applicants’ lives: violation Article 34 Locus standi Victim Victim status of individual applicants and standing (locus standi) of applicant associations to act on behalf of their members in respect of dangers to health stemming from exposure to the Terra dei Fuochi pollution: inadmissible in respect of applicant associations and individual applicants not living in the officially listed affected municipalities Article 46 General measures (pilot judgment) Respondent State to take general measures to address the Terra dei Fuochi pollution problem within two years from the judgment’s finality Facts – The applicants are five associations based in Campania and 41 individual applicants who live in Caserta or Naples provinces in Campania. Terra dei Fuochi (“Land of Fires”) refers to an area of 90 municipalities in those provinces with a population of around 2.9 million. It describes the effects of the illegal dumping, burying and/or uncontrolled abandonment of hazardous, special and urban waste on private land, often carried out by criminal organised groups, frequently combined with its...