Galev and Others v. Bulgaria

The European Court of Human Rights held applicant's claim, that Bulgaria violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to enforce regulations against odor and noise disturbances emanating from a dentist office adjacent to the applicant's flat, inadmissible because the alleged nuisance did not meet the severity threshold necessary to trigger Article 8 protection. Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights recognizes the right of European peoples to respect for their private lives and homes. The Court reasoned that, on its face, the smell and noise emitted from a dentist office in a residential building would be limited to office hours and would be unlikely to unduly affect residents. The Court held that, absent any evidence of a health hazard or specific adverse effect, the disturbance cannot be said to reach the threshold necessary to form the basis for an Article 8 claim.