Zammit Maempel v. Malta

The European Court of Human Rights held that the Republic of Malta was entitled to strike a balance between affected individuals and the community as a whole with regards to enacting legislation and regulations concerning the vicinities in which fireworks were allowed to be set off and therefore did not violate Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which recognizes the right of European peoples to respect for their private lives and homes. While the Court recognized that the applicants have a substantial interest in living free of noise pollution, it determined that the State did not err in weighing that interest against the economic and cultural traditions of the Maltese as a whole, in shaping the regulatory policies regarding fireworks. The Court held that, absent a fundamental procedural flaw in governmental decision-making, there was no violation of Article 8.