Judgment concerning Italy
In the case of Laterza and D’Errico v. Italy the Court held that there had been a violation of the right to life/investigation.
The case concerned the decision to discontinue the criminal proceedings brought by the applicants in respect of their relative’s death from a pulmonary tumour, which, they alleged, had been caused by his exposure to toxic substances in the workplace.
The Court found that, having regard to the relevant domestic case-law and the fact that an occupational source of one of the applicant’s condition had not been excluded at the outset, the trial court could have ordered further investigations to ascertain the possible existence of a causal link between the exposure to harmful substances and the deceased’s illness, with a view to identifying those responsible for any breaches of safety measures. It followed that the domestic courts had not made sufficient efforts to establish the facts of the case, and that the decision to close the investigation had not been properly reasoned. The investigation had therefore not been effective.