Practice and prospects of proving harm to human health caused by atmospheric air pollution and indoor air in pre-trial and trial

Abstract

Analysis of judicial practice on established cases of injuries caused by the negative impact of atmospheric air and indoor air and compensation of damages for the past 10 years has been made. The most common causes of complaints of citizens to the court with a request for compensation for damage to health due to the negative impact of air pollution are revealed. The most common causes are: the presence of odors in the implementation of the production activities of enterprises and organizations; violation of hygienic standards in residential areas; location of residential buildings within the boundaries of the sanitary protection zone; mismatch of construction, decoration materials and furniture requirements of the legislation; implementation of industrial activity in a residential area in violation of the law; and the deterioration of human health caused by the described violations. It has been shown that more than half of the requests for compensation for harm caused by the air pollution are not to be fulfilled. The compensation of damage is denied due to lack of evidence of noncompliance of air quality to hygienic requirements, the causal link between the activities of the entity and violation of the right to a healthy environment, and / or failure to prove the fact of harm to public health or the threat of such damage.

Keywords

• atmospheric air
• indoor air
• risk factors
• injury
• judicial practice
• legislation of the Russian Federation
• illegal actions
• causation