The European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Human Right to a Clean Environment: the English Perspective

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This chapter focuses on the human right to a clean environment and the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), seen from the perspective of the jurisprudence of the English Courts. It consists of the following main parts: an introduction to the human right to a clean environment; the ECHR and the jurisprudence of theECHR; a brief introduction to the 1998 Human Rights Act (HRA); and the relevant jurisprudence of English Courts. The chapter presents a survey of cases that gave rise to views that the ECtHR recognised the existence of a human right to a clean environment. However, it must be emphasised that there is no direct human right to clean environment included in the catalogue of human rights in the ECHR. Keywords: English Courts; European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR); European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR); Human Rights Act (HRA)