The right to a healthy environment in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights

The article is devoted to studying the European Court of Human Rights case law in ensuring the right to a safe environment. The topic’s relevance is due to global environmental issues, such as climate change, pollution, and resource depletion, which threaten human health and safety. The article examines the evolution of the right to a safe environment, which emerged in the late twentieth century in response to environmental challenges and awareness of the link between the environment and health. The authors analyze the key international acts that contributed to the development of environmental law and enshrining this right in the constitutions of more than 150 countries. Although the European Convention on Human Rights does not explicitly enshrine the right to a safe environment, the European Court of Human Rights has developed a significant case law for its protection, indirectly through articles guaranteeing the right to life and respect for private and family life. The Court recognizes that environmental factors (noise, smells, pollution) can violate these rights even if they do not directly threaten health but significantly impair the quality of life and the ability to use the housing. The European Court of Human Rights obliges states to ensure transparency of environmental information, public participation, and judicial protection while allowing environmental protection may justify restrictions on other rights, such as property rights. The «de minimis» principle is applied, requiring the impact of environmental factors to be sufficiently significant. The state must provide adequate legal and regulatory frameworks to protect environmental rights. The authors highlight the problems of implementing this proper worldwide, particularly ineffective control and difficulty bringing it to justice. It is emphasized that environmental protection is increasingly being achieved through the procedural mechanisms of human rights. Despite the absence of direct enshrining, the European Court of Human Rights, through its case law, significantly contributes to protecting the right to a safe environment.