European Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the right to a healthy environment

Abstract

The right to a healthy environment is not explicitly mentioned in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms from 1950. The mentioned right is more recent and belongs to human rights of the third generation In the final Declaration of the United Nations conference on the human environment held in Stockholm in 1972, the basic human right to freedom, equality and adequate living conditions in an environment that allows an individual to live in dignity and wellbeing is mentioned for the first time. Although the right to a healthy environment is not mentioned in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, it is still given importance through the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, which is responsible for considering violations of the said Convention. The protection of that right is linked to other rights guaranteed by the Convention, such as, for example, the right to life, right to private and family life, etc. The aim of the research in this paper is to indicate the importance of establishing a guarantee of the right to a healthy environment, as well as the increasing importance of its protection as a prerequisite for the enjoyment of some other basic human rights. The paper uses the method of content analysis. In addition to the analysis of the Draft Protocol to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, we also analyze the content of the verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights.