Health risks and the right to privacy
JUDGMENT
Calancea and others v. The Republic of Moldova 01.03.2018 (no. 23225/05)
SUMMARY
Residents with health problems and power plants. The power of the electromagnetic field generated by the high voltage cable in the area was not likely to have a detrimental effect on the private and family life of the residents. No violation of the right to property, as there was full knowledge of the situation prior to the purchase of the dwelling.
PROVISIONS
Article 8
Article 6§1
Article 1 of the First Additional Protocol
PRINCIPAL FACTS
The applicants, Mrs Sofia Calancea and Mr Petru Calancea, a married couple, and Mr Serghei Cocieru, are Moldovan nationals who were born in 1960, 1957 and 1971 respectively and live in Codru.
The Calanceas’ house was built in 1999 and Mr Cocieru’s was built in 2001. Both are located about ten metres from a high-voltage power line that began operating in the 1960s. Planning permission for both houses was obtained in 1989. Mrs Calancea suffers from a heart condition. Mr Calancea was diagnosed with cancer in 1998, and also suffers from high blood pressure and hypertensive heart disease.
In April 2004 the applicants brought an action against the electricity network operator and the Codru municipal authority seeking to have the high-voltage line moved far enough away to conform to technical and health standards.
The Rîșcani District Court dismissed their action as unfounded. It noted that the houses had been built after the high-voltage line had come into operation and without the agreement of the network operator. That judgment was upheld by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Justice.
THE DECISION OF THE COURT
Article 8
The Court noted that the local authorities had granted permission to build the houses inside the twenty-metre protection zone surrounding high-voltage lines, apparently in breach of the technical regulations in force in Moldova. However, this fact in itself was not sufficient in order to find a violation of Article 8. In the Court’s view, the applicants had not demonstrated that the strength of the electric field recorded on their land had been such as to pose a real risk to their health. It also observed that all the readings recorded were well below the limit of 5kV/m recommended by the WHO.
With regard to Mr and Mrs Calancea’s health problems, the Court observed that Mrs Calancea’s heart condition and her husband’s cancer had been diagnosed before the building work on their house had been completed. It was unable to conclude that there was a causal link between the presence of the high-voltage line and the illnesses in question. As to Mr Calancea’s high blood pressure and hypertensive heart disease, the Court took the view that the evidence before it was insufficient to establish to what extent they had been caused or aggravated by the presence of the power line. Mr Cocieru, for his part, had never contended that his health had been adversely affected in any way by the presence of the high-voltage line.
The Court therefore considered that it had not been demonstrated that the strength of the electromagnetic field created by the high-voltage line had attained a level capable of having a harmful effect on the applicants’ private and family sphere. It held that the minimum threshold of severity required in order to find a violation of Article 8 of the Convention had not been attained.
Other articles
With regard to Article 6 § 1, the Court found no appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms guaranteed by that provision.
As to Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, the Court observed that the applicants must have been aware of the presence of the high-voltage line, and had purchased the building land and built their houses in full knowledge of the situation (echrcaselaw.com editing).
