A motion for an interlocutory injunction was brought to prevent the City of Toronto from enforcing its By-law that prohibited camping and erecting tents, structures, and shelters in City parks, City of Toronto Municipal Code, c. 608. The applicants did not challenge the validity of the By-law but sought an order to have it suspended …Read more

The applicants appealed a decision affirming the constitutionality of Brian’s Law (Mental Health Legislative Reform), 2000, S.O. 2000, c. 9. (“Brian’s Law”), which was enacted by the Ontario legislature in 2000. Brian’s Law amended the Mental Health Act (“MHA”), adding provisions that expanded criteria for involuntary committal in a psychiatric hospital and introduced community treatment …Read more

The applicants’ claim was based on s. 27(1)(b) of the Constitution – the right to sufficient food and water, which they submitted found further expression in the provisions of the Water Services Act 108 of 1997 (“WSA”). Their complaint argued that farm occupiers and labour tenants, especially the applicants, lacked “access to sufficient water, basic …Read more

The applicant, Mr. Slavko Krajnc, was a professional truck driver in Celje, Slovenia. On September 29, 2003, Krajnc was deemed to have “category III work-related disability” as a result of his epilepsy, which rendered him unable to work as a truck driver. Accordingly, he had the right to be assigned to a different, more suitable …Read more

The Petitioner, Josephine Majani, was a woman from a poor economic background, who was in need of maternal care. As she could not afford private medical care, she went to Bungoma County Referral Hospital, a public health care facility that ought to provide free maternal health care following a Presidential directive that was issued on …Read more

President Kenyatta issued a directive to national government entities to prepare a report collecting data on all school-going children who were living with HIV and AIDS. Further the directive also mandated data on the guardians of such children, expectant mothers living with HIV and breastfeeding mothers who are HIV positive. The data was to be …Read more

The Public Health Officer in the Nandi Central District arrested the petitioners- Daniel Ng’etich and Patrick Kipng’etich Kirui stating that they had failed to take the prescribed TB Medications. Under Section 27 of the Public Health Act, a magistrate could order the isolation and detention of a person who has been exposed to an infection. …Read more

The Petitioner, AIDS Law Project, brought suit against the Government of Kenya, arguing that Section 24 of the HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Act, No. 14 of 2006 (the Act) was unconstitutional. The Petitioner argued that Section 24 of the Act was vague and overbroad, and therefore unconstitutional. Section 24 imposed criminal sanctions upon …Read more

The Petitioners suffered from renal failure and required frequent renal dialysis treatments. Kenyatta National Hospital did not have an adequate number of machines to serve Petitioners’ needs, and would often choose to treat in-patients before Petitioners. Furthermore, the National Hospital Insurance Fund would not reimburse Petitioners for treatments sought at private hospitals. Petitioners brought suit …Read more

The petitioners were two women who gave birth and were detained by Pumwani Hospital when they could not pay maternity fees in full upon discharge. The first petitioner was referred to the hospital with a potential breech birth and was detained for 24 days after discharge when she was unable to pay her hospital bill. …Read more

The Director of Medical Services issued a letter on December 3, 2013 and a memo on February 24, 2014 to “All Health Workers” that directed them not to participate in training on safe abortion practice and threatened legal action for non-compliance. The Federation of Women Lawyers filed suit, stating that the letter and memo had …Read more

Baby A, was born with both male and female genitalia. The respondent, Kenyatta National Hospital issued E.A (the mother of Baby A) documents used in the process of carrying out genitogram tests, x-rays and scans of the Baby A in which the column indicating the child’s sex was filled in with a question mark. Baby …Read more

Petitioner, an elderly retired person, was diagnosed with diabetes and Benign Hypertrophy (a life-threatening terminal disease). Petitioner claimed that that the cost of the medication was prohibitive and that he was in need of urgent medical attention. Petitioner sought assistance of the court to enforce his fundamental rights to the highest attainable standard of health …Read more

As the administrator of the deceased’s estate, the plaintiff sought the medical records of the deceased from the defendant hospital. The plaintiff had separately filed a medical negligence suit against the defendant. The plaintiff and his counsel determined that the hospital records, which related to the deceased’s treatment before death, were necessary for the negligence …Read more

The Petitioners were citizens of Kenya living with HIV. They claimed that provisions of the Anti-Counterfeiting Act, 2008 (the Act) severely restricted access to affordable, essential medicines, including generic medicines for HIV-related diseases, in violation of their fundamental rights to life, dignity and health protected under articles 26(1), 28 and 43 of the Constitution of …Read more

Petitioners were indigent Kenyan citizens that were infected with HIV/AIDS. Petitioners depended on antiretroviral drugs for treatment of their condition; and, because of their poverty, relied on a program administered by the Kenyan government and an NGO for the provision of these drugs at little or no cost. This program could afford to operate as …Read more

The petitioners were Kenyan citizens living with HIV/AIDS. They petitioned seeking a declaration that the fundamental rights of life, human dignity and health as protected and envisaged by the Constitution, encompassed access to affordable and essential drugs and medicines, including generic HIV/AIDS drugs. The petitioners also sought a declaration that the Anti-Counterfeit Act, 2008 and …Read more

The petitioners, the Kenya Society for the Mentally Handicapped, brought suit against the Kenyan government for violating the rights of Kenyans with intellectual, mental and psychosocial disabilities. They brought suit against six respondents: the National Council for Persons with Disabilities for not implementing measures that address the needs of people with mental disabilities, formulate policies to …Read more

The petitioners claimed that a group of armed police officers arrived on their land and without warning or a court order begun demolishing the houses and structures of the petitioners, leaving them homeless. Further, they alleged that police used tear gas and physical violence to evict the petitioners, who were resisting the demolition. The petitioners …Read more

The Applicant suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis. He defaulted on his treatment and was charged with wilfully exposing and spreading infectious disease to the community in violation of the Public Health Act. When the facts and the charges of his case were read to the Applicant, he simply stated ‘It is true’ and ‘Facts as charged’. …Read more

Representatives of the complainants, the Endorois indigenous community, brought an action before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Commission), alleging violations of human rights resulting from the Government of Kenya’s forced displacement of the Endorois from their ancestral lands without adequate compensation, in breach of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. …Read more

The Petitioners suffered from tuberculosis. Pursuant to the Public Health Act, the Nandi Central District Tuberculosis Defaulter Tracing Coordinator ordered their detention in prison for eight months. The Petitioners claimed their detention violated their rights to administrative action that is expeditious, efficient, lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair, and to freedom of movement under articles 47(1) …Read more

RM was born a hermaphrodite/intersexual and was raised as male. His birth was not registered at the time, which caused RM difficulties later in life as he was not in consequence recognised by the State for employment, marriage or other legal reasons. RM was later convicted of an offence of robbery with violence and sentenced …Read more

The plaintiff, Weheire, brought a suit against the Attorney-General alleging degrading and inhuman treatment during his arrest and detainment in 1986, a violation of his rights under the Constitution of Kenya (“Constitution”),. In December 1986, Weheire was arrested without a warrant.  After his arrest, Weheire claimed that his house was unlawfully searched. Weheire further alleged …Read more

The petitioners were pastoralists and communal landowners in the Baringo District in Rift Valley Province, Kenya. The petitioners alleged that the respondents (the Attorney-General, the Minister for Environmental and Natural Resources, the National Environment Management Authority, and the County Council of Baringo) were liable for violating their rights to life (under Section 71 of the …Read more

About one hundred residents of the Kiserian township were approved to construct residential-cum-commercial buildings by county officials, including health officials. A public health officer investigated reports of “indiscriminate discharge of offensive smelling waste matters within the trading centre flowing out of various premises into open channels along the road to the environment and to the …Read more

Plaintiffs sought a permanent injunction to prevent Defendants from continuing to construct a slaughterhouse situated next to their homes, claiming that such construction violated certain environmental statutory provisions and Plaintiffs’ basic right to a clean and healthy environment. The slaughterhouse was almost completely built but had not started operating at the time of the suit. …Read more

RM’s mother was living with, but not married to, RM’s father at the time of her birth. Although RM’s father paid hospital expenses for her birth, shortly thereafter, RM’s father ceased contact with RM’s mother and provided no parental support. Under section 24(3) of the Children Act (the “Act”), only parents that were married had …Read more

The applicants sought orders of certiorari and prohibition of enforcement of a notice and multiple letters attesting to the fact that the Kenya Ports Authority (the “KPA”) authorized only two firms to operate as sludge removal firms in the port of Mombasa. The applicants ran businesses that removed sludge from ships docking in the Port …Read more

The Plaintiff, J.A.O., was a woman living with HIV. The Defendants were her employer (Homepark Caterers), her doctor and hospital. The Plaintiff claimed the doctor and hospital subjected her to an HIV test without her consent, in violation of her constitutional right to privacy. She further claimed that the doctor disclosed her HIV status to her employer without …Read more

The applicant, Nyumbani Children’s Home, prayed a declaration from the High Court requiring public schools to permit HIV-positive children to enroll as students. The applicant represented ninety-one HIV-positive children who were prohibited from attending public schools. Forty-one children attended costly private schools, and the remaining fifty children studied informally at home. Nyumbani argued that school …Read more

This case was brought to the Court by members of the Ogiek community who sought a declaration that their forcible eviction from the Tinet Forest by the Kenyan government was unconstitutional. The applicants claimed that the eviction was in contravention of their rights to protection of the law, their right to life, their right to …Read more

The Complainant claimed to be a students’ union leader who Secret Service Department (SSD) authorities detained without trial for ten months at a notorious basement detention center at SSD headquarters in Nairobi for his condemnation of the Kenyan government and for his demands for judicial inquiry into the murder of his late uncle, a former …Read more

The parties were husband and wife married under the African Christian Marriage and Divorce Act. They had two sons, ages seven and ten. In 2000, the husband petitioned for divorce on the grounds of cruelty, claiming that the wife, having tested HIV positive, was endangering his life. The superior court ordered that the wife be …Read more