WILLEMSTAD - The care for air quality in the area west of the Isla refinery was substandard for years and needs to be improved. The court has already ruled that and it ratifies this decision yesterday.

The local environmental organization Clean Air Everywhere has also won an appeal against the government of Curaçao, which was supported in the lawsuit by the public companies Curaçao Refinery (RdK) and Curaçao Refinery Utilities (CRU) as well as by Refineria Isla Curaçao. This important Court ruling has been postponed many times.

This case concerns the question of whether the government has acted unlawfully towards Clean Air Everywhere by failing to sufficiently care for the air quality in the area west of the Schottegat.

By final verdict of 26 August 2019, the Court of First Instance had already ruled that the government had acted unlawfully on this issue, which constitutes a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The court had also ruled that the Curaçao government must ensure that the stricter WHO (World Health Organization) standards for sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter are no longer exceeded at the Kas Chikitu measuring point within one year, as of September 1, 2020. of new standards set by the country.

The government did not agree with this judgment and has appealed against it. In its judgment of Tuesday, June 1, 2021, the Court of Appeal confirmed the ruling of the Court of First Instance on all parts.

The fact that there is now a 'Ministerial Regulation' has given the Court no reason to rule otherwise. As of September 1, 2020, the Ministerial Regulation with general effect of August 10, 2020 for the establishment of rules regarding the standard of quality criteria for air quality in implementation of Article 2, second paragraph of the National Ordinance on Public Order (Regulation on the quality criteria for air quality) entered into force. In this regulation limit values ​​for SO2 and particulate matter have been established for the Kas Chikitu measuring point.

"Without going into its content, it can be questioned whether this regulation is provided with a sufficiently sound legal basis to be regarded as sound standards within the meaning of Article 8 ECHR," according to the Court of Appeal. The three judges point out that there is also a chance, now that Parliament has not been involved, that the Ministerial Regulation will be revoked by a next minister. "Or that the regulations are otherwise reversed," they write.

“To provide a reason not to do that, and as an incentive to arrive at a framework of standards that parliament has considered – also in view of the long period in which the country has failed to give due weight to its citizens' interest in being free from polluted air and the associated health damage – the conviction will be confirmed.”