Bucharest authorities ordered to pay 2,000 euros after rat bite lawsuit

Bucharest's Sector 1 and City Hall administrations have been ordered to pay 2,000 euros in damages to a resident who was bitten by a rat in the summer of 2021. The ruling by the Bucharest Tribunal comes after nearly five years of legal proceedings.

Lawyer Adrian Cuculis, who represented the plaintiff, stated that the decision confirms the authorities' failure to fulfill their obligations regarding sanitation and pest control. He noted that both administrations were found liable for the incident, which occurred during a period of significant waste accumulation in Sector 1.

Cuculis explained that the court considered the context of the summer of 2021, when Sector 1 declared a state of alert due to uncollected garbage. This situation, lasting over 20 days, allegedly contributed to a surge in the rat population and hampered deratization efforts. The Sector 1 administration was found to have not met its legal duties for waste collection and sanitation.

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Soluție pronunțată de Tribunalul București. După 5 ani de procese, Primăria Sectorului 1 (sub Clotilde Armand) și Primăria Generală (sub Nicușor Dan) au fost găsite vinovate pentru că un șobolan a mușcat un locuitor al Sectorului 1.

Regarding the City Hall, the lawyer claimed that deratization efforts began late in June 2021, and authorities acknowledged delays and funding difficulties. Both administrations, he argued, maintained a public health risk that materialized in the plaintiff's case, supported by witness testimony, video evidence, and medical records.

The ruling brings attention to the persistent problem of rat infestations in Bucharest, with residents frequently reporting sightings in various neighborhoods. The cost of professional deratization for apartments can range from 150 to 400 lei, with higher costs for building basements, underscoring the financial and logistical challenges of managing the issue.

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Ambele au menținut un risc pentru sănătatea publică, risc care s-a concretizat în cazul reclamantului (confirmat de martori, înregistrare video și acte medicale).