ECTHR case law on legal liability for offences in the field of environmental protection environment

Abstract

Pursuant to Article 55 of the Constitution of Ukraine, everyone has the right, after exhausting all national legal remedies, to apply for protection of their rights and freedoms to the relevant international judicial institutions or international organisations of which Ukraine is a member or participant [1]. One of such organisations is the European Court of Human Rights (ECTHR), which decides on the establishment of violations of human rights enshrined in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (CCHR). Given that Ukraine has recognised the jurisdiction of the ECTHR and the principle of extending its judgments to third states that are not parties to the case, we consider the study of the Court’s case law to be a necessity for the member states.

This article analyses the ECTHR case law on legal liability for environmental offences. Based on the results of the study, it is found that the peculiarity of the ECTHR judgments in cases concerning environmental offences is the absence of direct enshrining of “environmental” rights in the Convention, and the establishment of the components of such offences by interpreting the existing rules in each individual case.