Sentencia N.° 172-14-SEP-CC Pays/Territoire Équateur Type de cour Nationale - cour supérieure Date Oct 15, 2014 Source UNEP, InforMEA Nom du tribunal Constitutional Court Siège de la cour Quito Juge Patricio Pazmiño Freire; Jaime Pozo Chamorro Numéro de référence N.° 172-14-SEP-CC Langue Espagnol Sujet Eau Mot clé Eau à usage industriel Droit constitutionnel Usage libre de l'eau Dessalement de l'eau Associations d'usagers de l'eau Pollution des eaux douces/qualité des eaux douces Approvisionnement en eau Gestion des resources en eau douce Évaluation des ressources/des dommages Droits de l'homme Résumé In this case, the plaintiff, the owner of a farm neighboring the gorges of del Soroche, complained that the activities of the defendants in the production of hydro energy and in the extraction of freshwater have a negative impact on the water ecosystem of the gorges.The plaintiff sued the two public companies in charge of the production of the hydro energy and of the exploitation of the abstraction of drinking water for environmental damages in front of the second Criminal Court and argued that the quality of the water of the gorges had been decreasing due to the pollution of the water resulting from the exploitation of the waters by the two defendants. The judges of the court of first instance did not follow its argumentation and refused to condemn the defendants. The plaintiff sought an appeal in front of the Court of Appeal, but the Court of Appeal upheld the judgement of first instance. The plaintiff also tried to sue the two public companies in front of the civil jurisdiction for environmental damage, but was not more successful. Finally, he decided to sue them for the violation of his rights to a safe habitat, to property, to Health, to a healthy environment and finally, his right to participation. This action was successful in front of the court of first instance but not in front of the Special Criminal Court of the Provincial Court of Justice of Azuay who acted as an appeal chamber in that case, where the claims of the plaintiff were again dismissed.As a result, the plaintiff brought his case in front of the constitutional court and argued that the decision of the Special Criminal Court of the Provincial Court of Justice of Azuay was violating its constitutional rights. The Constitutional Court held that there was no violation of the constitutional rights of the plaintiff because the plaintiff could not prove that there was any environmental damage which resulted in a violation of his rights. As a result, the appeal was dismissed. Texte intégral Sentencia N.° 172-14-SEP-CC.pdf Site web www.cortenacional.gob.ec