PROCEDURE

The case was referred to the Court by the European Commission of Human Rights (“the Commission“) on 8 December 1993, within the three-month period laid down by Article 32 para. 1 and Article 47 (art. 32-1, art. 47) of the Convention. It originated in an application (no. 16798/90) against the Kingdom of Spain lodged with the Commission under Article 25 (art. 25) by a Spanish national, Mrs Gregoria López Ostra, on 14 May 1990. The Commission’s request referred to Articles 44 and 48 (art. 44, art. 48) and to the declaration whereby Spain recognised the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court (Article 46) (art. 46). The object of the request was to obtain a decision as to whether the facts of the case disclosed a breach by the respondent State of its obligations under Articles 3 and 8 (art. 3, art. 8) of the Convention.

In response to the enquiry made in accordance with Rule 33 para. 3 (d) of Rules of Court A, the applicant stated that she wished to take part in the proceedings and designated the lawyer who would represent her (Rule 30). On 10 January 1994 the lawyer was given leave by the President to use the Spanish language in the proceedings (Rule 27 para. 3).

The Chamber to be constituted included ex officio Mr J.M. Morenilla, the elected judge of Spanish nationality (Article 43 of the Convention) (art. 43), and Mr R. Ryssdal, the President of the Court (Rule 21 para. 3 (b)). On 24 January 1994, in the presence of the Registrar, the President drew by lot the names of the other seven members, namely Mr R. Bernhardt, Mr J. De Meyer, Mrs E. Palm, Mr F. Bigi, Mr A.B. Baka, Mr M.A. Lopes Rocha and Mr G. Mifsud Bonnici (Article 43 in fine of the Convention and Rule 21 para. 4) (art. 43). Subsequently Mr A. Spielmann, substitute judge, replaced Mr De Meyer, who was unable to take part in the further consideration of the case (Rule 22 paras. 1 and 2 and Rule 24 para. 1).

As President of the Chamber (Rule 21 para. 5), Mr Ryssdal, acting through the Registrar, consulted the Agent of the Spanish Government (“the Government“), the applicant’s lawyer and the Delegate of the Commission on the organisation of the proceedings (Rules 37 para. 1 and 38). Pursuant to the orders made in consequence, the Registrar received the Government’s and the applicant’s memorials on 3 and 4 May 1994 respectively. On 16 May the Secretary to the Commission informed the Registrar that the Delegate would submit his observations at the hearing. On 10, 17 and 20 June 1994 the Commission supplied various documents which the Registrar had requested on the President’s instructions.

In accordance with the decision of the President, who had also given the Agent of the Government leave to address the Court in Spanish (Rule 27 para. 2), the hearing took place in public in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 20 June 1994. The Court had held a preparatory meeting beforehand. There appeared before the Court:

for the Government Mr J. Borrego Borrego, Head of the Legal Department for Human Rights, Ministry of Justice, Agent;

for the Commission Mr F. Martínez, Delegate;

for the applicant Mr J.L. Mazón Costa, abogado, Counsel. The Court heard addresses by them and also their replies to questions from two of its members. On 23 November 1994 it declined to accept observations submitted out of time by counsel for the applicant on 13 October 1994 which related to the reimbursement of his fees in the national proceedings.

AS TO THE FACTS

Mrs Gregoria López Ostra, a Spanish national, lives in Lorca (Murcia). At the material time she and her husband and their two daughters had their home in the district of “Diputación del Rio, el Lugarico“, a few hundred metres from the town centre.

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

A. Background to the case

The town of Lorca has a heavy concentration of leather industries. Several tanneries there, all belonging to a limited company called SACURSA, had a plant for the treatment of liquid and solid waste built with a State subsidy on municipal land twelve metres away from the applicant’s home.

The plant began to operate in July 1988 without the licence (licencia) from the municipal authorities required by Regulation 6 of the 1961 regulations on activities classified as causing nuisance and being unhealthy, noxious and dangerous (“the 1961 regulations“), and without having followed the procedure for obtaining such a licence (see paragraph 28 below). Owing to a malfunction, its start-up released gas fumes, pestilential smells and contamination, which immediately caused health problems and nuisance to many Lorca people, particularly those living in the applicant’s district. The town council evacuated the local residents and rehoused them free of charge in the town centre for the months of July, August and September 1988. In October the applicant and her family returned to their flat and lived there until February 1992 (see paragraph 21 below).

On 9 September 1988, following numerous complaints and in the light of reports from the health authorities and the Environment and Nature Agency (Agencia para el Medio Ambiente y la Naturaleza) for the Murcia region, the town council ordered cessation of one of the plant’s activities - the settling of chemical and organic residues in water tanks (lagunaje) - while permitting the treatment of waste water contaminated with chromium to continue. There is disagreement as to what the effects were of this partial shutdown, but it can be seen from the expert opinions and written evidence of 1991, 1992 and 1993, produced before the Commission by the Government and the applicant (see paragraphs 18-20 below), that certain nuisances continue and may endanger the health of those living nearby.

B. The application for protection of fundamental rights

1. Proceedings in the Murcia Audiencia Territorial

Having attempted in vain to get the municipal authority to find a solution, Mrs López Ostra lodged an application on 13 October 1988 with the Administrative Division of the Murcia Audiencia Territorial, seeking protection of her fundamental rights (section 1 of Law 62/1978 of 26 December 1978 on the protection of fundamental rights (“Law 62/1978“) - see paragraphs 24-25 below). She complained, inter alia, of an unlawful interference with her home and her peaceful enjoyment of it, a violation of her right to choose freely her place of residence, attacks on her physical and psychological integrity, and infringements of her liberty and her safety (Articles 15, 17 para. 1, 18 para. 2 and 19 of the Constitution - see paragraph 23 below) on account of the municipal authorities’ passive attitude to the nuisance and risks caused by the waste-treatment plant. She requested the court to order temporary or permanent cessation of its activities.

The court took evidence from several witnesses offered by the applicant and instructed the regional Environment and Nature Agency to give an opinion on the plant’s operating conditions and location. In a report of 19 January 1989 the agency noted that at the time of its expert’s visit on 17 January the plant’s sole activity was the treatment of waste water contaminated with chromium, but that the remaining waste also flowed through its tanks before being discharged into the river, generating foul smells. It therefore concluded that the plant had not been built in the most suitable location. Crown Counsel endorsed Mrs López Ostra’s application. However, the Audiencia Territorial found against her on 31 January 1989. It held that although the plant’s operation could unquestionably cause nuisance because of the smells, fumes and noise, it did not constitute a serious risk to the health of the families living in its vicinity but, rather, impaired their quality of life, though not enough to infringe the fundamental rights claimed. In any case, the municipal authorities, who had taken measures in respect of the plant, could not be held liable. The non-possession of a licence was not an issue to be examined in the special proceedings instituted in this instance, because it concerned a breach of the ordinary law.

2. Proceedings in the Supreme Court

On 10 February 1989 Mrs López Ostra lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo - see paragraph 25 below in fine). She maintained that a number of witnesses and experts had indicated that the plant was a source of polluting fumes, pestilential and irritant smells and repetitive noise that had caused both her daughter and herself health problems. As regards the municipal authorities’ liability, the decision of the Audiencia Territorial appeared to be incompatible with the general supervisory powers conferred on mayors by the 1961 regulations, especially where the activity in question was carried on without a licence (see paragraph 28 below). Regard being had to Article 8 para. 1 (art. 8-1) of the Convention, inter alia, the town council’s attitude amounted to unlawful interference with her right to respect for her home and was also an attack on her physical integrity. Lastly, the applicant sought an order suspending the plant’s operations.

On 23 February 1989 Crown Counsel at the Supreme Court filed pleadings to the effect that the situation complained of amounted to arbitrary and unlawful interference by the public authorities with the applicant’s private and family life (Article 18 of the Constitution taken together with Articles 15 and 19 - see paragraph 23 below). The court should accordingly grant her application in view of the nuisance to which she was subjected and the deterioration in the quality of her life, both of which had moreover been acknowledged in the judgment of 31 January. On 13 March Crown Counsel supported the suspension application (see paragraph 12 above and paragraph 25 below).

In a judgment of 27 July 1989 the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. The impugned decision had been consistent with the constitutional provisions relied on, as no public official had entered the applicant’s home or attacked her physical integrity. She was in any case free to move elsewhere. The failure to obtain a licence could only be considered in ordinary-law proceedings.

3. Proceedings in the Constitutional Court

On 20 October 1989 Mrs López Ostra lodged an appeal (recurso de amparo) with the Constitutional Court, alleging violations of Article 15 (right to physical integrity), Article 18 (right to private life and to inviolability of the family home) and Article 19 (right to choose freely a place of residence) of the Constitution (see paragraph 23 below). On 26 February 1990 the court ruled that the appeal was inadmissible on the ground that it was manifestly ill-founded. It observed that the complaint based on a violation of the right to respect for private life had not been raised in the ordinary courts as it should have been. For the rest, it held that the presence of fumes, smells and noise did not itself amount to a breach of the right to inviolability of the home; that the refusal to order closure of the plant could not be regarded as degrading treatment, since the applicant’s life and physical integrity had not been endangered; and that her right to choose her place of residence had not been infringed as she had not been expelled from her home by any authority.

C. Other proceedings concerning the Lorca waste-treatment plant

1. The proceedings relating to non-possession of a licence

In 1990 two sisters-in-law of Mrs López Ostra, who lived in the same building as her, brought proceedings against the municipality of Lorca and SACURSA in the Administrative Division of the Murcia High Court (Tribunal Superior de Justicia), alleging that the plant was operating unlawfully. On 18 September 1991 the court, noting that the nuisance had continued after 9 September 1988 and that the plant did not have the licences required by law, ordered that it should be closed until they were obtained (see paragraph 28 below). However, enforcement of this order was stayed following an appeal by the town council and SACURSA. The case is still pending in the Supreme Court.

2. Complaint of an environmental health offence

On 13 November 1991 the applicant’s two sisters-in-law lodged a complaint, as a result of which Lorca investigating judge no. 2 instituted criminal proceedings against SACURSA for an environmental health offence (Article 347 bis of the Criminal Code - see paragraph 29 below). The two complainants joined the proceedings as civil parties. Only two days later, the judge decided to close the plant, but on 25 November the measure was suspended because of an appeal lodged by Crown Counsel on 19 November.

The judge ordered a number of expert opinions as to the seriousness of the nuisance caused by the waste-treatment plant and its effects on the health of those living nearby. An initial report of 13 October 1992 by a scientist from the University of Murcia who had a doctorate in chemistry stated that hydrogen sulphide (a colourless gas, soluble in water, with a characteristic rotten-egg smell) had been detected on the site in concentrations exceeding the permitted levels. The discharge of effluent containing sulphur into a river was said to be unacceptable. These findings were confirmed in a supplementary report of 25 January 1993. In a report of 27 October 1992 the National Toxicology Institute stated that the levels of the gas probably exceeded the permitted limits but did not pose any danger to the health of people living close to the plant. In a second report of 10 February 1993 the institute stated that it could not be ruled out that being in neighbouring houses twenty-four hours a day constituted a health risk as calculations had been based only on a period of eight hours a day for five days. Lastly, the regional Environment and Nature Agency, which had been asked to submit an expert opinion by the Lorca municipal authorities, concluded in a report of 29 March 1993 that the level of noise produced by the plant when in operation did not exceed that measured in other parts of the town.

The investigation file contains several medical certificates and expert opinions concerning the effects on the health of those living near the plant. In a certificate dated 12 December 1991 Dr de Ayala Sánchez, a paediatrician, stated that Mrs López Ostra’s daughter, Cristina, presented a clinical picture of nausea, vomiting, allergic reactions, anorexia, etc., which could only be explained by the fact that she was living in a highly polluted area. He recommended that the child should be moved from the area. In an expert report of 16 April 1993 the Ministry of Justice’s Institute of Forensic Medicine in Cartagena indicated that gas concentrations in houses near the plant exceeded the permitted limit. It noted that the applicant’s daughter and her nephew, Fernando López Gómez, presented typical symptoms of chronic absorption of the gas in question, periodically manifested in the form of acute bronchopulmonary infections. It considered that there was a relationship of cause and effect between this clinical picture and the levels of gas.

In addition, it is apparent from the statements of three police officers called to the neighbourhood of the plant by one of the applicant’s sisters-in-law on 9 January 1992 that the smells given off were, at the time of their arrival, very strong and induced nausea.

On 1 February 1992 Mrs López Ostra and her family were rehoused in a flat in the centre of Lorca, for which the municipality paid the rent. The inconvenience resulting from this move and from the precariousness of their housing situation prompted the applicant and her husband to purchase a house in a different part of town on 23 February 1993.

On 27 October 1993 the judge confirmed the order of 15 November 1991 and the plant was temporarily closed.