Italian citizens won before the European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in Cordella and Others v. Italy that the Italian government violated the rights of residents in Taranto by failing to address toxic emissions from the Ilva steel plant and failing to provide an effective legal remedy for environmental decontamination.

• The ECtHR unanimously ruled that Italy violated the applicants' right to private life (Article 8 ECHR) and their right to an effective remedy (Article 13 ECHR) due to the impact of toxic emissions from the Ilva steel plant in Taranto.
• The Court determined that the health of the applicants had deteriorated because of prolonged exposure to industrial emissions from the Ilva steelworks, though it denied victim status to 19 applicants who did not live in towns where the environmental risk was particularly high.
• The Court found that Italian law failed to provide an effective remedy for decontamination, noting that individuals could only encourage the Minister of Environment to bring an action, as only the Minister could require the reparation of environmental damage.
• The judgment specified that the Italian Government must execute the ruling through the rapid implementation of the environmental plan and the urgent clean up of the affected region and factory.
• The author notes that while the Court's decision supports the standards of the Aarhus Convention, the judgment in Cordella did not explicitly refer to the Convention, likely because the applicants did not rely on its provisions.

APA

Kwiedacz-Palosz, M. (2019). Italian citizens won before the European Court of Human Rights. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/projects/access-to-justice-for-a-greener-europe/updates-annual-newsletters/161-italian-citizens-won-before-the-european-court-of-human-rights/

Chicago

Kwiedacz-Palosz, Malgorzata. Italian citizens won before the European Court of Human Rights. ClientEarth, 2019. https://www.clientearth.org/projects/access-to-justice-for-a-greener-europe/updates-annual-newsletters/161-italian-citizens-won-before-the-european-court-of-human-rights/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kwiedacz-Palosz |first1=Malgorzata |title=Italian citizens won before the European Court of Human Rights |publisher=ClientEarth |date=6 February 2019 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/projects/access-to-justice-for-a-greener-europe/updates-annual-newsletters/161-italian-citizens-won-before-the-european-court-of-human-rights/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kwiedaczpalosz2019italian, author = {Kwiedacz-Palosz, Malgorzata}, title = {{Italian citizens won before the European Court of Human Rights}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2019}, month = feb, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/projects/access-to-justice-for-a-greener-europe/updates-annual-newsletters/161-italian-citizens-won-before-the-european-court-of-human-rights/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }