ECtHR’S QUARTER OF A CENTURY LONG BALANCING BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY INTERESTS IN INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION CASES – EVOLUTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS V REMEDIAL POTENTIALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUDGMENTS

Abstract

The paper focuses on the oldest and, presumably, the most successful line of environmental
applications – those that related to alleged violations of ECHR rights as a consequence of
industrial activities. By analyzing the relevant judgments of the ECtHR, the author traces the
evolution of ECHR standards from the first industrial pollution case López Ostra v Spain
decided by the Court in 1994 to the latest judgment Cordella v Italy delivered in 2019. The
research is based on two main hypotheses. Firstly, it is argued that outstanding developments
occurred with regard to the extent of states’ positive environmental obligations that the Court
identified as constitutive elements of certain conventional rights. Secondly, as opposed to such
significant developments, the author argues that the remedial potential of ECtHR's
environmental judgments seems questionable due to a number of reasons. The aim of the paper
is therefore to explore the reasons for such an obvious discrepancy between the high standards
identified by the Court as regards both the substantive and procedural environmental duties on
the one hand, and the limited remedial effects of the Court’s judgments on the other, as well as
to offer potential solutions. The latest case of Cordella v Italy seems to offer valuable guidance
and fairly positive development in that regard since it focuses, through measures recommended
by the Court, not only on the respondent State’s obligation to address the consequences of
industrial activities but also to prevent future damages.