CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 10 mars 2020

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text-decoration:underline; color:#0072bc }   SECOND SECTION         CASE OF HUDOROVIČ AND OTHERS v. SLOVENIA   (Applications nos. 24816/14 and 25140/14)         JUDGMENT   Art 8, Art 3 and Art 14 • Allegedly insufficient measures to ensure access to safe-drinking water and sanitation for Roma communities • Positive obligations triggered only by persistent and long-standing lack of access to safe-drinking water having adverse consequences for health and human dignity effectively eroding core rights under Art 8 • Existence and content of positive obligations to be determined by specific circumstances of the persons affected, legal framework and economic and social situation of the respondent State • Wide margin of appreciation accorded to States • Opportunity to access safe drinking water provided by the authorities who actively engaged with specific needs of vulnerable and socially disadvantaged community • Non-negligible proportion of Slovenian population in remote areas lacking access to public water supply and sewerage systems • Applicants not prevented from using their social benefits towards improving living conditions   STRASBOURG   10 March 2020     FINAL   07/09/2020   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Hudorovič and Others v. Slovenia , The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Robert Spano, President ,   Marko Bošnjak,   Valeriu Griţco,   Egidijus Kūris,   Ivana Jelić,   Arnfinn Bårdsen,   Darian Pavli, judges , and Hasan Bakırcı, Deputy Section Registrar , Having deliberated in private on 4 February 2020, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in two applications (nos.   24816/14 and 25140/14) against the Republic of Slovenia lodged with the Court on 26 March 2014 under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by sixteen Slovenian nationals (“the applicants”), whose details are set out in the annex to this judgment. 2.     The applicants were represented by Ms N. Zidar Klemenčič, a lawyer practising in Ljubljana, and the European Human Rights Law Institute, based in Nicosia. The Slovenian Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Ms J. Morela, State Attorney. 3.     The applicants alleged that the State had failed to provide them with access to basic public utilities, such as drinking water and sanitation, contrary to the requirements of Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention. Relying on Article 14, they further submitted that, as members of the Roma community, they were unable to effectively enjoy the same rights as the majority population owing to the authorities’ discriminatory attitudes towards them. 4.     On 8 April 2015 the Government were given notice of the applications. In addition, leave to intervene in the written procedure (Article   36 § 2 of the Convention and Rule 44 § 3 of the Rules of Court) was granted to the European Roma Rights Centre and the Human Rights Centre of the University of Ghent. THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE A.     The applicants in case no. 24816/14 5.     Mr Branko Hudorovič (the first applicant) was born in 1959 and lives in the informal Roma settlement of Goriča vas in the Ribnica Municipality. Mr Aleks Kastelic (the second applicant) is the first applicant’s son, born in 2007, who initially applied to the Court under the name Aleks Hudorovič. Following the Government’s objection, lodged on 2 November 2015, his name was corrected to Aleks Kastelic. 6 .     On 26 May 2011 the first applicant and the second applicant’s mother, Ms Marija Kastelic, reached a court settlement whereby the second applicant resides in the custody of his mother at a different address from that submitted by the first applicant. According to the information about the first and second applicants’ family situation provided to the Government by the Ribnica Social Work Centre on 22 June 2015, the first applicant maintained contact with the second applicant under the terms agreed upon with the latter’s mother. According to the first applicant, the second applicant lives mostly with him in the Goriča vas settlement. 7 .     More than 10% of the population residing in the Ribnica Municipality do not have access to drinking water from the public water-distribution system. The public sewage system for the discharge of urban wastewater was built solely in the town of Ribnica and the Hrastje area, while all other housing facilities must be equipped with their own septic tanks or individual water treatment plants installed at the expense of each facility or investor. 8 .     On 31 December 2014 there were forty-three public housing units at a subsidised rent rate provided to people with low incomes in the Ribnica Municipality. Another fourteen public housing units were provided at the market rate. 9 .     The land on which the Roma community settled thirty years ago is owned by the Republic of Slovenia. This marshy agricultural land is categorised in the Municipal Spatial Plan of the Ribnica Municipality as the best category of agricultural land, where construction of residential buildings is not allowed. Moreover, the Goriča vas settlement is located outside of settlement areas under high-voltage power lines where construction is not allowed owing to electromagnetic radiation. 10 .     In the early period of the settlement, the inhabitants lived there in tents, but later some more permanent dwellings were constructed. Today most residents live in wooden huts, some of which have stonework or brick inside. Today some eighty people reside in the settlement. Demolition orders were issued in respect of five such illegally constructed huts, including one built by the first applicant. He received an order to remove the building then under construction in 2000, which came into effect in 2005. None of the demolition orders was, however, executed, one of the reasons being that alternative accommodation would have had to be provided to the Roma children living on the premises. 11.     The buildings in the Goriča vas settlement are not equipped with plumbing, nor is there any sewage piping. As regards electricity, the residents rely on illegal connections to electricity poles. The collection and transport of municipal waste is regularly performed by the public municipal utility service, and it is no longer charged to the residents since they have failed to pay their bills. 12.     The first applicant initially submitted that he lived in a caravan. He subsequently informed the Court that he had moved into a simple wooden hut where he lives with his son. The hut has no access to water, sewage and sanitation. According to the first applicant, they collect water from the cemetery or the nearby polluted stream or else they acquire it from other houses. Moreover, owing to the lack of sanitation services, the applicants use the area around the caravan for defecation. 13.     The applicants, together with other inhabitants of the settlement, have for a number of years been seeking to obtain access to public utilities. They attended a number of meetings with the mayor of the Ribnica Municipality and the governmental Office for Minorities ( Urad za manjšine ). However, as the Goriča vas settlement was established in an irregular manner, the residents have no possibility of acquiring building permits and the other documents necessary for obtaining access to the public infrastructure. 14 .     In 1996, the Ribnica Municipality drew up a plan to relocate the residents of the Goriča vas settlement to the Lepovče Roma settlement. Several terraced houses were to be constructed and equipped with the necessary infrastructure. The Roma from the Goriča vas settlement initially agreed to the Municipality’s plan and expressed their readiness to contribute their labour to the project. However, in May 1997 the non-Roma residents of Lepovče expressed their opposition to the enlargement of the Roma settlement in their village, fearing that the proximity of the settlement would cause “further complications”. Later in May 1997, the first applicant, in his capacity as representative of the Roma living in Goriča vas, declared in writing that the group was not willing to move to the proposed location. It appears from the internal communications of the Municipality that the opposition to the proposed plan partly resulted from the fact that two separate Roma groups, between whom disagreements existed, were to be settled in Lepovče. The Municipality subsequently abandoned the resettlement plan. 15.     On 14 April 1999 the first applicant met the mayor of Ribnica and requested that basic utilities, specifically drinking-water supply and an electricity generator, be provided for the Goriča vas Roma settlement. The first applicant and the mayor concluded that a diesel generator and a water tank of 2,000-3,000 litres were to be purchased and placed in the Roma settlement; a regular water supply was to be provided by the local fire brigade, with the cost of the water deliveries being borne by the residents. According to the minutes of the meeting, the Roma residents would bear the costs of adequate sanitation (chemical toilets) and arrange for the clean-up of the surrounding area. 16 .     Subsequently, on 26 July 1999 the Ribnica Municipality and the first applicant, representing the Roma residing in Goriča vas, signed a co ‑ financing agreement whereby each of the parties undertook to cover 50% of the costs of the purchase of a water tank and a diesel generator. The pro forma value of the two infrastructure items, as set out in the agreement, amounted to 294,546 Slovenian tolars (SIT) (which according to the then applicable exchange rate amounted to 1,504 euros (EUR)). The Municipality committed itself to carrying out the purchase and delivering the water tank and the generator to the Goriča vas settlement. The individual Roma residents who had financially contributed to the purchase assumed ownership of the infrastructure items, and all the Roma residents of the Goriča vas settlement acquired the right to access water and electricity. In addition to the purchases, the Ribnica Municipality provided some landfill material used for the rehabilitation of the environment in the settlement. 17.     It is undisputed between the parties that the water tank was purchased as part of a co-financing agreement. However, they disagreed on the subsequent course of events and the current situation as regards access to drinking water in the settlement. 18 .     According to the applicants, after a number of years the water tank became unusable due to mould and other fungi and they had no choice but to replace it. The tank had not been dug into the ground and therefore was not protected from the weather. Also, the applicants did not know whether the quality of water was being monitored at all. The Government, however, relying on the written testimony of a local resident, submitted that both the diesel generator and the water tank had subsequently been sold. The applicants contested that submission, arguing that “most of [the tanks]” could not have been sold as they had become unsuitable for use. 19 .     Regarding the water deliveries, in the period from 30 January 2010 until 1 January 2016 there were thirty-one deliveries of water to the Goriča vas settlement; each time the residents requested it, 5,000 litres of water were delivered and the cost of an individual delivery amounted to EUR 35. The Roma residents were obliged to pay the costs of transporting the water, while the costs of the water itself were borne by the Ribnica Municipality. The Government, relying on information provided by the Ribnica fire brigade, submitted that the supplies of water had been poured into a large water tank installed in the settlement; when the tank was full, other containers had also been filled. 20 .     According to the applicants, the water delivered by the Ribnica fire brigade was used to fill private water tanks and pools where children bathed in the summer. 21.     The Government further submitted that the Roma from the Goriča vas settlement had supplied themselves with water at the nearby Hrovača Cemetery, which was approximately 1 km away from the settlement. The applicants confirmed that they collected water wherever they could, including at cemeteries. 22 .     As regards the financial situation of the applicants, in the period from 1 May to 31 October 2015 the first applicant was entitled to monthly social assistance in the amount of EUR 269.20. The second applicant, in his mother’s custody, was financially supported through her monthly social security allowance amounting to EUR 331.12, and a monthly child allowance in the amount of EUR 114.31. In addition, based on a friendly settlement between the parents, the first applicant had a duty to pay monthly child support to the second applicant in the amount of EUR 61.99. 23 .     On 13 October 2015 the Human Rights Ombudsman submitted a request to the Government to urgently adopt all necessary measures for the Goriča vas settlement to be connected to the public water supply system. In the meantime, a water tank had to be installed in the settlement. The Government replied that a water tank had already been installed and that spatial planning at the local level was the responsibility of the Ribnica Municipality. In reply, the Human Rights Ombudsman, noting that the Goriča vas residents had not reported the presence of a water tank, critically assessed the situation and took the view that the Ribnica Municipality had not effectively engaged with the Roma community to provide them with water and sanitation. The Ombudsman considered that the Government were violating the Roma residents’ human right to water and sanitation and noted that a violation would persist until a connection to the public water supply and sanitation system was ensured. B.     The applicants in case no. 25140/14 24.     The applicants, a family of fourteen, live in the informal Roma settlement at Dobruška vas 41 in the Škocjan Municipality, which is composed of approximately twenty housing units for two hundred and fifty people. Mr Ljubo Novak (the first applicant) was born in the settlement, Ms   Dunja Kočevar (the second applicant) has been living there for twenty years and all of their children were born there, too. 25 .     The Dobruška vas 41 settlement is located on land belonging mostly to the Škocjan Municipality and the local Krka Agricultural Cooperative. According to the Roma residents and a report of the Human Rights Ombudsman, members of the Roma community were moved to the area by the local authorities of the then Novo mesto Municipality in 1963, and have lived there ever since. Construction of residential houses in the Dobruška vas 41 settlement is possible under certain conditions and subject to approval by two environmental agencies owing to the fact that the land is partially located in a flood area and an area of natural interest. However, the Škocjan Municipality spatial plan provides for construction of a wastewater treatment plant and the transformation of the entire area in question into a business zone. The municipal authorities have on several occasions expressed expectations that the Roma residents of Dobruška vas 41 settlement should be relocated, while arguing at the same time that there was no appropriate area for an alternative settlement in the Škocjan Municipality. 26 .     In the period from 2004 until 2015 several residents of Dobruška vas   41, but not the applicants, were ordered to suspend construction and remove all structures already built in the settlement. Demolition orders were also issued in respect of a few of them; however, they were not executed. 27.     In 2013 the Municipality lodged criminal complaints against a number of Roma residents, including the first applicant, for unlawful occupation of real property under Article 338 of the Criminal Code. In the first-instance criminal proceedings, the defendants were found guilty and given suspended sentences of three months’ imprisonment, with three years’ probation. The first applicant did not provide any information on whether he had appealed and whether that conviction had become final. 28 .     At the date of the lodging of the application, the applicants lived in an illegally built wooden hut located on land owned by the Krka Agricultural Cooperative, without access to water, sanitation or electricity. Subsequently the applicants informed the Court that they had moved into a wooden hut they had built approximately 200 m away from the previous dwelling owing to disagreements with their neighbours which had escalated into destruction of their property and physical aggression against them. They continued to live without a proper water supply and sanitation. The Government supplemented this information, adding that the first and second applicants had bought two plots of land and illegally constructed a building and two animal sheds without a building permit. 29 .     In discussions between the Škocjan Municipality and the relevant State authorities it was decided that the Municipality could not ensure individual water connections to illegally built buildings, since such a solution would contravene the domestic legal order. However, in order to comply with the national and international standards of access to water, it was decided that a group water-distribution connection would be built in the settlement, on land belonging to the Municipality. The residents would be able to install individual water connections at their own expense, as provided by the relevant legislation. As regards water bills, it was agreed that a local commission on Roma issues should be engaged in a process of mediation to find a suitable solution. 30 .     The Dobruška vas 41 settlement where the applicants reside has been connected to the public water supply system since 2011. The water supply system consists of one group water-distribution connection (a group water ‑ access point) installed on the initiative and at the expense of the Škocjan Municipality. Nine individual connections were installed from the distribution connection to the individual users’ homes. In 2015 water was supplied to seven individual connections. 31.     Initially, nineteen households were interested in obtaining individual connections, including the applicants’. Only nine households subsequently joined the water supply system by committing to pay their respective shares of the total consumption. In 2015 the average monthly cost of water for a household amounted to approximately EUR 9. 32 .     The applicants did not apply to join the water supply system. According to them, while living at a previous location, they had been denied access to the group water-distribution connection by their neighbours, who had not allowed them to lay a water pipe under “their” land. This issue had also been raised in a letter sent to the mayor of the Škocjan Municipality by the Human Rights Ombudsman in December 2012. The Government submitted that the applicants could have avoided the neighbours’ property and laid the pipes along the road, to which the applicants responded that they had not been informed of the possibility of connecting to the water system in this way. The Government also submitted that, after the move to the new location, the applicants had neither applied for an individual water connection, nor verified whether their new building could be connected to the group water-distribution connection. 33 .     The residents of the Škocjan Municipality also have drinking water available from the village fountain. The fountain, where the applicants obtain their drinking water, is approximately 1.8 km away from the applicants’ hut; it is fitted with a tap and the water has a constant temperature of 14˚C. According to an analysis by the National Laboratory for Health, the Environment and Food, the water complies with the applicable standards and is considered safe, that is to say fit to use for drinking, cooking or washing. Some residents of the Škocjan Municipality (Vinji Vrh), whose households are not connected to the public water ‑ distribution system, supply themselves with water from the fountain, while for sanitary purposes they use rainwater or water supplied by the fire brigade. 34 .     As regards the sewerage system, at the material time the Škocjan Municipality had no public discharge or facility for treatment of urban wastewater. Buildings producing urban wastewater were equipped with septic tanks or cesspits, while newer buildings had small wastewater treatment plants. Septic tanks and small wastewater plants were funded by the owners of buildings where urban wastewater was produced. The public municipal utility service carried out the emptying of cesspits and small wastewater treatment plants (taking out mud and sludge). A wastewater treatment plant was under construction. 35 .     As regards the financial situation of the applicants, at the material time the first and second applicants were receiving monthly child benefit in the amount of EUR 1,556.97, social assistance in the amount of EUR   868.80, and a parental benefit in the amount of EUR 252.04. Their two adult daughters, Ms Pamela Novak (the third applicant) and Julija Novak (the fourth applicant), were receiving monthly social assistance in the amount of 269.20 EUR each. The applicants were therefore receiving social benefits in the monthly amount of EUR 2,947.01. In 2016, however, those benefits were increased to EUR 3,299.85 per month. Moreover, the applicants were receiving EUR 120-130 per month as reimbursement for the costs of transporting their four children from their home to a bus station about 10 km away, from where they continued their journey to school by local bus. II.     RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW A.     The Constitution 36 .     The relevant provisions of the Constitution provide as follows: Article 14 (As amended by the Constitutional Act amending Article   14 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, 15 June 2004 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia no.   69/04) (Equality before the Law) “In Slovenia everyone shall be guaranteed equal human rights and fundamental freedoms irrespective of national origin, race, sex, language, religion, political, or other conviction, material standing, birth, education, social status, disability, or any other personal circumstance. All are equal before the law.” Article 65 (Status and Special Rights of the Romany Community in Slovenia) “The status and special rights of the Romany community living in Slovenia shall be regulated by law.” Article 70a (Introduced by the Constitutional Act amending Chapter III of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, which was enacted on 17 November 2016 and came into force on 25 November 2016 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia no.   75/16)) (Right to Drinking Water) “Everyone has the right to drinking water. Water resources shall be a public good managed by the State. As a priority and in a sustainable manner, water resources shall be used to supply the population with drinking water and water for household use and in this respect shall not be a market commodity. The supply of the population with drinking water and water for household use shall be ensured by the State directly through self-governing local communities and on a not-for-profit basis.” B.     Relevant legislative and regulatory acts 1.     Spatial development, spatial planning and the provision of public utility services in respect of construction land 37 .     Spatial development and spatial planning at the local level falls within the competence of municipalities, which, in accordance with the Local Self-Government Act, are independent in managing local matters in the public interest. In terms of spatial planning, that involves first and foremost land-use allocation in order to ensure rational and efficient use of land. To that end, municipalities adopt municipal spatial plans and detailed municipal spatial plans based on the Spatial Planning Act. 38.     Under this legal framework, an area must be identified as construction land before any construction project can be submitted for a building permit. The power to determine the types of public utility infrastructure to be built in individual areas is conferred upon municipalities. The latter are also responsible for constructing the public utility infrastructure, which is financed from municipal budgets, the State budget and the community infrastructure levy. This levy is a contribution to the costs of construction of the public utility infrastructure paid by individual investors. By paying the community infrastructure levy, the person liable for payment, usually the owner of the construction land, is guaranteed connection to the already built infrastructure. 39.     The Construction Act provides that any construction of a new structure, a re-built edifice, a replacement building, and so forth, cannot commence until a final building permit has been obtained. Before a building permit can be issued, the relevant administrative body verifies, inter alia , whether the relevant structure will be provided with the minimum level of public utility services; those include drinking-water supply, electricity supply, wastewater discharge and access to public roads. The investor must also show that a request for an assessment of the community infrastructure levy has, or will, be lodged. 40 .     The Construction Act explicitly prohibits the installation of public utility connections to illegally built structures. 41.     As regards legalisation of illegally built buildings and structures, they are considered as new constructions requiring a building permit. Therefore, all of the above-mentioned conditions must be met in order to legalise a building, including the provision of the minimum level of public utility services. 2.     Safe drinking water and sanitation 42.     There is a comprehensive regulatory framework governing the use of water in Slovenia. Water as a public good and public services related to its use, to water facilities and equipment are regulated by the Water Act. Different types of checks on water with the aim of ensuring its safety and therefore its suitability for domestic use are provided for in the Regulation of Sanitary Suitability of Foodstuffs (Products and Materials Coming into Contact with Foodstuffs) Act. Furthermore, the Rules on drinking water define the requirements to be satisfied with regard to drinking water in order to protect human health from adverse effects, and the Decree on the Methodology for Determining Prices of Municipal Utility Services for Environmental Protection provides the methodology for determining prices of obligatory public municipal utility services, such as the drinking-water supply. 43 .     Individual tasks to be performed within the scope of the municipal utility service of water supply are determined in the Decree on Drinking-Water Supply. In principle, the municipal service of water supply is provided throughout the area of a municipality to buildings occupied by people and structures where drinking water is used for watering animals. By way of exception, private supply of drinking water may be ensured in respect of settlements and individual buildings or structures where the municipality does not provide the public utility service. Pursuant to the Decree, settlement areas with fifty or more permanent residents and a population density of more than five residents per hectare are to be equipped with a public water-distribution system. Subject to certain derogations, also settlement areas with less than fifty residents should be equipped with such a system. 44 .     The planning and construction of the connection to the public water ‑ distribution system should be ensured by the owner of the building or other structure that is to be connected. The Decree prohibits the provider of the public utility service from connecting to the public water-distribution system any buildings or structures that do not comply with the applicable rules on the discharge and treatment of urban wastewater. Both the Ribnica and Škocjan municipalities have adopted ordinances on drinking-water supply that are, in all essential provisions, aligned with the Decree and other relevant regulations. 45.     As regards sanitation, the tasks performed within the scope of obligatory municipal utility service are determined in the Decree on the Discharge and Treatment of Urban Wastewater and Run-off Rainwater. The public utility service consists of discharging the wastewater into the public sewerage system, treating the discharged water, collecting urban wastewater and sludge from cesspits and from small urban wastewater plants, treatment of such wastewater and sludge in an urban or combined wastewater plant, and so forth. 46 .     Municipalities have a duty to provide the public utility service of sanitation throughout their respective areas; however, certain derogations regarding the scope of the service are allowed. Specifically, owners of buildings outside the designated settlement areas and where there is no public sewerage system must ensure that urban wastewater is discharged and treated in small urban wastewater treatment plants. Specific obligations related to the scope and methods of the public utility service provision are regulated by the municipal acts. Both the Ribnica and Škocjan municipalities have adopted ordinances on the discharge and treatment of urban wastewater that provide in detail the scope of the respective public municipal utility services and the locations where the urban wastewater is treated. For an owner of a property to be connected to the public sewerage system, he or she must be in possession of a final building permit and/or proof of the right to build. 3.     Situation of the Roma community 47.     Members of the Roma community in Slovenia are entitled to individual and community rights in the same way as all other citizens of the Republic of Slovenia. Their status is defined as a “special ethnic community” entitled to collective, special rights. In 2007, the Roma Community in the Republic of Slovenia Act was enacted. It acknowledges the special status of the Roma community in Slovenia and its successful integration into Slovene society. The Act further defines the special rights of the Roma community which are accorded to its members in addition to the rights and obligations appertaining to all Slovenian citizens. Pursuant to section 3, the State is to provide for the implementation of the special rights of the Roma community in the areas of education, culture, employment, spatial planning and environmental protection, health and social security, as well as notification and participation in public affairs pertaining to the Roma community. Moreover, the Act determines the competences of national and local authorities for the implementation of those rights and provides for cooperation of the representatives of the Roma community in implementing their rights and obligations as provided by law. 48.     Section 5 of the Act provides that the national and local authorities must include Roma settlement issues and improvement of living conditions of the Roma community members in their spatial plans. Pursuant to this section, the system of spatial planning in respect of Roma settlements is to be realised through appropriate local planning solutions. However, the initiative for planning of those settlements may under certain conditions be transferred to or taken over by the Government. The Government themselves may enact spatial planning regulations concerning Roma settlements in cases where a lack of legal regulation or municipal infrastructure could result in a serious threat to health, a long-standing disturbance of the public order or a permanent threat to the environment. In such cases, the tasks taken on by the State are carried out with State funds. 49.     The interests of the Roma community in relation to the national authorities are represented by the Roma Community Council of the Republic of Slovenia, an umbrella organisation of the Roma community (section 9 of the Act). The Council consists of representatives of the Roma Association of Slovenia and the representatives of the Roma community in municipal councils. Pursuant to the Roma Community Act, the Government have a duty to adopt, in cooperation with the Roma Community Council and the municipalities, a programme of measures providing for obligations and tasks to be carried out at the national and local levels (section 6 of the Act). At the national level, the monitoring and protection of the special rights of the Roma community are primarily ensured by the Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for National Minorities ( Urad Vlade Republike Slovenije za narodnosti ). 50 .     In March 2010 the Slovenian Government adopted a National Programme of Measures for Roma for the Period 2010-15 in which it defined priority areas – housing, education, employment and healthcare – which required specific short-term and long-term measures to improve the situation. The Government stated that the Roma settlements had not been subject to permanent regulation or controlled development. The absence of comprehensive measures and the lack of investment funds had resulted, inter alia , in poor public utilities. The Government pointed out that under the Spatial Planning Act, the municipalities were required to prepare municipal spatial plans, and encouraged them to include Roma settlements in those strategic plans, so as to provide for the redevelopment of such settlements which were mostly unlawfully occupied and the result of haphazard construction. 51 .     In the Fourth report on the situation of the Roma community in Slovenia (2015), in which the Government presented the implementation of the Roma Community Act and the National Programme of Measures for Roma, they noted that some municipalities had not yet adopted municipal spatial plans, which had prevented the Roma settlement in those areas from benefiting from legalisation and spatial development. Nor had some municipalities opened calls for the submission of applications for public rental housing which would have allowed the members of the Roma community to apply for such housing, should they so wish. The Government submitted that the State did not have any means of coercing the municipalities into action. They did note, however, that housing issues were closely related to the enjoyment of human rights such as access to safe drinking water and sanitation. The State had a duty to provide for the enjoyment of those rights at all levels, as provided in a number of international documents, and the municipalities should act in accordance with those instruments. III.     RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LAW MATERIAL A.     United Nations instruments 1.     Convention on the Rights of the Child 52.     This Convention recognises the right of the child to clean drinking water in the context of the right to health as follows: Article 24 “1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services. 2.     States Parties shall pursue full implementation of this right and, in particular, shall take appropriate measures: ... (c) To combat disease and malnutrition, including within the framework of primary health care, through, inter alia , the application of readily available technology and through the provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking-water, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution; ...” 2.     Resolution 64/292 on the human right to water and sanitation adopted by the General Assembly (28 July 2010) 53 .     The Resolution recognises the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights, and calls upon States and international organisations to provide financial resources, capacity building and technology transfer, through international assistance and cooperation, in particular to developing countries, in order to scale up efforts to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all. 3.     Resolution 18/1 on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation adopted by the Human Rights Council (12 October 2011) 54 .     The Human Rights Council expressed its concern that approximately 884 million people lacked access to improved water sources and more than 2.6 billion people did not have access to improved sanitation. Affirming the need to focus on local and national perspectives in considering the issue, the Human Rights Council reaffirmed the primary responsibility of States to ensure full realisation of all human rights. It held that they should take steps, nationally and through international assistance and cooperation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of their available resources, to achieve progressively the full realisation of the right to safe drinking water and sanitation by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures in the implementation of their human rights obligations. 55.     The Resolution thus calls upon States to, inter alia , continuously monitor and regularly analyse the status of the realisation of the right to safe drinking water and sanitation; assess existing policies, programmes and activities in the sectors of water and sanitation, giving due consideration to wastewater management, including treatment and reuse, and to monitor resources allocated to increase adequate access, as well as to identify actors and their capacity; assess whether the existing legislative and policy framework is in line with the right to safe drinking water and sanitation, and to repeal, amend or adapt it in order to meet human rights standards and principles; ensure free, effective, meaningful and non-discriminatory participation of all people and communities concerned, particularly people living in disadvantaged, marginalised and vulnerable situations. 4.     General Comment no. 15 (2002) on the right to water adopted by the Committee on economic, social and cultural rights (“the CESCR”) 56 .     In its twenty-ninth session from 11 to 29 November 2002, the CESCR adopted General Comment no. 15 (2002) on the right to water (Articles 11 and 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) which, in so far as relevant, provides: “II. NORMATIVE CONTENT OF THE RIGHT TO WATER ... 12.     While the adequacy of water required for the right to water may vary according to different conditions, the following factors apply in all circumstances: (a) Availability. The water supply for each person must be sufficient and continuous for personal and domestic uses. These uses ordinarily include drinking, personal sanitation, washing of clothes, food preparation, personal and household hygiene. The quantity of water available for each person should correspond to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Some individuals and groups may also require additional water due to health, climate, and work conditions; (b) Quality. The water required for each personal or domestic use must be safe, therefore free from micro-organisms, chemical substances and radiological hazards that constitute a threat to a person’s health. Furthermore, water should be of an acceptable colour, odour and taste for each personal or domestic use. (c) Accessibility. Water and water facilities and services have to be accessible to everyone without discrimination, within the jurisdiction of the State party. Accessibility has four overlapping dimensions:   (i) Physical accessibility: water, and adequate water facilities and services, must be within safe physical reach for all sections of the population. Sufficient, safe and acceptable water must be accessible within, or in the immediate vicinity, of each household, educational institution and workplace. All water facilities and services must be of sufficient quality, culturally appropriate and sensitive to gender, life-cycle and privacy requirements. Physical security should not be threatened during access to water facilities and services;   (ii) Economic accessibility: Water, and water facilities and services, must be affordable for all. The direct and indirect costs and charges associated with securing water must be affordable, and must not compromise or threaten the realization of other Covenant rights;   (iii) Non-discrimination: Water and water facilities and services must be accessible to all, including the most vulnerable or marginalized sections of the population, in law and in fact, without discrimination on any of the prohibited grounds; and   (iv) Information accessibility: accessibility includes the right to seek, receive and impart information concerning water issues. ... Non-discrimination and equality ... 14.     States parties should take steps to remove de facto discrimination on prohibited grounds, where individuals and groups are deprived of the means or entitlements necessary for achieving the right to water. States parties should ensure that the allocation of water resources, and investments in water, facilitate access to water for all members of society. Inappropriate resource allocation can lead to discrimination that may not be overt. ... 15.     With respect to the right to water, States parties have a special obligation to provide those who do not have sufficient means with the necessary water and water facilities and to prevent any discrimination on internationally prohibited grounds in the provision of water and water services. ... III. STATES PARTIES’ OBLIGATIONS General legal obligations 17.     While the Covenant provides for progressive realization and acknowledges the constraints due to the limits of available resources, it also imposes on States parties various obligations which are of immediate effect. States parties have immediate obligations in relation to the right to water, such as the guarantee that the right will be exercised without discrimination of any kind (art. 2, para. 2) and the obligation to take steps (art. 2, para.1) towards the full realization of articles 11, paragraph 1, and 12. Such steps must be deliberate, concrete and targeted towards the full realization of the right to water. ... Specific legal obligations 20.     The right to water, like any human right, imposes three types of obligations on States parties: obligations to respect, obligations to protect and obligations to fulfil. ... (c) Obligations to fulfil 25.     The obligation to fulfil can be disaggregated into the obligations to facilitate, promote and provide. The obligation to facilitate requires the State to take positive measures to assist individuals and communities to enjoy the right. The obligation to promote obliges the State party to take steps to ensure that there is appropriate education concerning the hygienic use of water, protection of water sources and methods to minimize water wastage. States parties are also obliged to fulfil (provide) the right when individuals or a group are unable, for reasons beyond their control, to realize that right themselves by the means at their disposal. 26.     The oblig