The judgment of the administrative court of Paris pronounced on June 16 in favor of the parents of two sick children, follows a previous decision in the same file. In February 2022, the fault of the State was held for not having taken the necessary measures to avoid pollution peaks.
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Asthma attacks, bronchiolitis, repeated ear infections until 2017 and 2018…. The first years in the Paris region of two little girls, born in 2014 and 2015, were not easy. The judge of the administrative court of Paris estimated, after expertise, that part of the symptoms were linked to the exceeding of the pollution thresholds resulting from the fault of the State, the two families living near the Paris ring road. He therefore condemned the State to pay them compensation. On the insistent advice of the doctors, however, the two families moved to the south of France.
>> Air pollution: an invisible killer
This judgment follows a previous decision in the same case dating from February 2022 and which also recognized that the State had committed a fault by not taking the necessary measures to prevent pollution peaks in Île-de-France. For François Lafforgue, family lawyer, “These decisions open a gap and allow other families whose children could be seriously affected by air pollution, to consider proceedings against the State”.
“A landmark decision”
The court condemned the State to pay 2,000 and 3,000 euros to the plaintiffs, far from the 220,000 euros requested by each of the families. “He didn’t open Pandora’s box”, confirms the lawyer. Several conditions have indeed been laid down to claim compensation. “This requires that the file be medically documented, that the pollution be proven and characterized at the family’s place of residence”, explains François Lafforgue, however quite satisfied: “We believe this is an exemplary and landmark decision.”
However, the Ministry of Ecological Transition can still appeal. Last October, the Council of State condemned the State to pay two fines of 10 million euros because, despite certain improvements, the limit thresholds for air pollution by nitrogen dioxide are still exceeded in several areas. of France. According to Public Health France, 40,000 premature deaths per year are caused by outdoor air pollution. It’s more than alcohol consumption and road accidents.