For a summary of the Swiss case, see here.
After having exhausted all national remedies available, with the final decision from the Swiss Supreme Court communicated to the parties in May 2020, on November 26, 2020 an association of senior women (Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland) took the Swiss government to the European Court of Human Rights because their health is threatened by heat waves made worse by the climate crisis. They also requested the case to be treated under the expenditure procedure pursuant to Article 41 of the Rules of the Court.
The application listed three main complaints: Switzerland's inadequate climate policies violate the women's right life and health under Articles 2 and 8 of the ECHR; the Swiss Federal Supreme Court's rejected their case on arbitrary grounds, in violation of the right to a fair trial under Article 6; and the Swiss authorities and courts did not deal with the content of their complaints, in violation of the right to an effective remedy in Article 13.
The ECtHR preliminary accepted the case and communicated it to the Swiss government on March 25, 2021. The ECtHR gave the case priority status and called on Switzerland to submit a response by July 16, 2021, which was timely filed.
On September 21, 2021, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Swiss Section of the ICJ submitted a third-party intervention providing observations on the effects of climate change on the right to life and the right to respect for private and family life and for the home and the positive obligations of States resulting from these rights, in light of principles of international environmental law, among other issues. The European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHR) also submitted a third-party intervention.
On October 13, 2021, the petitioner replied to the Swiss government's response to the ECtHR, arguing that the Swiss government failed to protect the Applicants' rights to life and private life under Arts. 2 and 8 ECHR, by failing to adopt the necessary legislative and administrative framework to do its share to prevent a global temperature increase of more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
On April 26, 2022, the Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights relinquished jurisdiction in favor of the Grand Chamber of the Court. The case is now going to be examined by the ECtHR's Grand Chamber of 17 judges on account of the fact that the case raises a serious question affecting the interpretation of the Convention (Art 30 ECHR).
On December 2, 2022, the applicants submitted a petition highlighting observations on the facts, admissibility and the merits. On December 5, 2022, several organizations, including the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, submitted third party interventions to the case.
Case Documents:
Filing Date | Type | File | Summary |
---|---|---|---|
11/26/2020 | Application | Download | Application to the European Court of Human Rights |
03/25/2021 | Order | Download | Court communication letter to the Swiss government (in English) |
04/26/2021 | Order | Download | Subject matter of the case and questions attached to the communication letter (in French) |
07/16/2021 | Reply | Download | Swiss Government's reply on admissibility and merits |
09/21/2021 | Not Available | Download | Third party intervention by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Swiss Section of the ICJ |
09/22/2021 | Not Available | Download | Third Party Intervention by Altsean-Burma, Comisión Colombiana de Juristas (CCJ), Comité Ambiental en Defensa de la Vida (CADV), The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), FIAN International, The Global Initiative for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (GIESCR), Human Rights Action (HRA), The international Human Rights Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law, Layla Hugues, Minority Rights International (MRG), Observatori DESC (ESCR observatory), The Oficina para América Latina de la Coalición Internacional para el Hábitat (HIC-AL), The Women’s Legal Centre (WLC) |
09/17/2021 | Not Available | Download | Third Party Intervention by E. Brems of the Human Rights Centre of Ghent University |
09/22/2021 | Not Available | Download | Third Party Intervention by ENNHRI – European Network of National Human Rights Institutions |
09/17/2021 | Not Available | Download | Third Party Intervention by E. Schmid and V. Boillet of Université de Lausanne (english) (french version) |
09/15/2021 | Not Available | Download | Third Party Intervention by Global Justice Clinic, Climate Litigation Accelerator and C. Voigt |
09/21/2021 | Not Available | Download | Third Party Intervention by International Commission of Jurists |
09/22/2021 | Not Available | Download | Third Party Intervention by S. Seneviratne and A. Fischlin of ETH Zürich |
09/21/2021 | Not Available | Download | Third Party Intervention by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |
09/15/2021 | Not Available | Download | Third Party Intervention by UN Special Rapporteurs and UN independent expert – M. A. Orellana – D.R. Boyd – C. Mahler |
10/13/2021 | Reply | Download | Petitioner's reply. |
10/13/2021 | Reply | Download | Reply made on October 13, 2021 by the Swiss Women Ass'n (Part 1 - Summary) |
10/13/2021 | Reply | Download | Reply made on October 13, 2021 by the Swiss Women Ass'n (Part 2 - Observations on the Facts) |
10/13/2021 | Reply | Download | Reply made on October 13, 2021 by the Swiss Women Ass'n (Part 3 - Observations on the Law) |
10/13/2021 | Reply | Download | Reply made on October 13, 2021 by the Swiss Women Ass'n (Part 4 - Request for Just Satisfaction/Request for General Measures) |
04/26/2022 | Order | Download | Relinquishment of jurisdiction in favor of the Grand Chamber. |
12/02/2022 | Petition | Download | Observations on the facts, admissibility and the merits by Klimaserioninnen. |
12/05/2022 | Not Available | Download | Third party intervention submitted by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. |
12/05/2022 | Not Available | Download | Third party intervention submitted by Germanwatch, Greenpeace Germany and Scientists for Future. |