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 respondent JH, a member of a First Nation in British Columbia, was admitted to the Foothills Medical Centre, run by the respondent, Alberta Health Services, on September 5, 2014 for the treatment of sepsis in his knee. Following surgery and a 20-day hospital stay, JH sought discharge. Instead, JH was admitted as a formal …Read more

The appellant was charged with four counts of first-degree murder for when he drove to his ex-wife’s grandmother’s house and shot his ex-wife, her grandmother, and his two daughters to death. The murders followed the appellant going through a divorce with the now deceased ex-wife and suffering a job loss which left him distraught. There …Read more

The applicant is an inmate who argued that his living conditions did not meet the health standards set out under article 3 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms after being displaced from the prison’s mental health unit. The applicant suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and severe visual impairment. He was …Read more

The plaintiffs are two non-profit organizations, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and the John Howard Society of Canada. The plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of sections 31-33 and 37 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA), which authorized administrative segregation of inmates in federal prisons. Section 31 provided that the purpose of administrative segregation …Read more

The applicant, a caretaker employed by an education center, had been taken into police custody on suspicion of child molestation. The local prosecutor lodged an indictment against the applicant, charging him with sexual abuse, sexual assault and unlawful detention of a minor. The court, however, ordered the applicant’s acquittal, holding that it was not possible …Read more

The applicant suffered from an acute paranoid reaction disorder. She was taken to the Kaunas Psychiatric Hospital by her parents and at their request in 1992; she continued her treatment at another psychiatric hospital. The applicant had joined a religious sect before her first treatment, and her parents stated that she had become disoriented after …Read more

The plaintiff stated that the Butabika Hospital is the only public psychiatric hospital under the Ministry of Health in Uganda. Further it is the only mental referral hospital and cases referred to it by other health facilities are of acute conditions, which require a specialized and skilled management. A part of the procedure in the …Read more

Petitioners, by means of a writ petition, challenged Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (‘IPC’), which made “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” a criminal offense punishable with life imprisonment. Petitioners argued that homosexuality, bisexuality, and other sexual orientations are equally natural and reflective of expression of choice and individuals should have the …Read more

The appellant was a 62 year old female diagnosed with schizophrenia. She had a long-standing history of hospitalization, treatment, release, de-compensation, relapse, and re-admission. When psychotic, the appellant had a history of troubling behaviour, including attempts to divert traffic, throwing objects out of a window, crashing her car and smashing other cars with brooms. The …Read more

Rodney Nelson sought judicial review of his involuntary admission to a psychiatric hospital under Ontario’s Mental Health Act (“MHA”) and an order for his immediate release due to rights infringements. Nelson had a lengthy history of crimes with many violent offences, including sexual offences against women and children. A psychiatrist completed an application for psychiatric …Read more

The applicant’s son, A.J., had a history of mental health disorders, and alcohol and substance addiction, and since 1984 had spent several periods in psychiatric hospitals. During the period in September 1999 in which A.J. was hospitalised, the doctor treating A.J. did not permit him to leave the hospital whilst he was being treated. However, …Read more

The applicants were Belgian and Turkish nationals who alleged that their son died in detention in violation of his right to life. The applicants’ son (the deceased) had been detained in the psychiatric wing of the prison two times and was discharged on probation. In 2009, the Criminal Court gave an order of the deceased’s …Read more

Defendant Governor Dannel Malloy declared a public health emergency in Connecticut in March 2014, in response to an Ebola outbreak in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. This Emergency Declaration authorized Defendant Dr. Mullen, the State Commissioner of Public Health, to quarantine individuals whom she reasonably believed were at risk of …Read more

The Claimant, Caleb Orozco, a citizen of Belize was a homosexual male and a health educator. In the Supreme Court of Belize, he challenged the constitutional validity of Section 53 of the Belize Criminal Code to the extent that it criminalized anal sex between two consenting male adults. Section 53 of the Criminal Code stated …Read more

In 1980, the Applicant, Mr. James Clifton Murray, was found guilty of the murder of a six year old girl in Aruba. At the time of his conviction, the Netherlands consisted of the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles, which included the islands of Aruba and Curaçao. The judgment from the First Instance Court of the …Read more

The Kings College Hospital challenged respondent C’s ability to decide to end life-saving treatment, effectively choosing to die, by alleging that she lacked mental capacity. C had attempted to commit suicide by ingesting 60 paracetamol tablets with champagne.  She made this decision shortly after undergoing  treatment for breast cancer and ending of a long term …Read more

This case concerned physician-assisted suicide in South Africa. The applicant, a 66-year-old highly educated, experienced lawyer with four children and a mother, had terminal stage 4 cancer with only a few weeks left to live and brought suit against various government ministries. He sought a declaratory order that a medical practitioner may end, or enable …Read more

After Plaintiff Gloria Taylor was diagnosed with a terminal illness in 2009, she challenged the constitutionality of the Canadian Criminal Code Section 241(b), which prohibited assistance in dying. The trial court held that the law was unconstitutional and granted Taylor an exemption from the law. The Court of Appeal reversed, basing their decision on the …Read more

The applicant, a lawyer, was accused of inciting false testimony from witnesses involved in several sets of criminal proceedings. Upon presenting herself to the prosecutor’s office, she was prevented from leaving and eventually taken to a psychiatric hospital. The government alleged that the applicant was detained after she refused to review the criminal file against …Read more

The applicant was a Romanian NGO known as the Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania-Helsinki Committee (“Association”), representing a deceased party, Ionel Garcea.  Garcea was a mentally ill prisoner who died in prison. During his sentence, he made a number of complaints about his treatment, with the Association representing him. In June …Read more

Mrs. Bentley was an 83-year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. Mrs. Bentley had not spoken since 2010 and did not recognize anyone. In 1991 she had signed a directive that expressed her desire to be allowed to die and not be kept alive by artificial means or heroic measures in case there was no reasonable …Read more

This case is an appeal from an award of damages granted to the appellant pursuant to the Hepatits C Compensation Tribunal Acts. The appellant contracted hepatitis C in 1977 after being given an anti D injection that “came from a batch infected with hepatitis C.” In 1998, pursuant to the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Acts, …Read more

The appellant was a 17 year old boy who applied for permanent residence from within Canada, having previously landed as a refugee claimant. He travelled to Canada to escape threatened violence from the army and police in Sri Lanka, his native country after he was detained and questioned by the Sri Lankan police and army. …Read more

The plaintiff filed a suit against the Member of the Executive Council for negligence on part of the George Mukhari Hospital during and after her caesarean (C-sec) operation and also the manner in which they treated her infant daughter. The said public hospital is under the administration of the Gauteng Provincial Department. The plaintiff was …Read more

The appellant Kavita’s 12-year-old daughter (minor victim) was raped and she became aware of her minor daughter’s pregnancy after 20 weeks had passed. Both the mother and daughter were desirous of getting the unwanted pregnancy terminated. Under section 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (hereinafter ‘the Act’) an unwanted pregnancy can be …Read more

The plaintiff filed a guarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) against the National Commission for the Integration of Disabled People [Comisión Nacional Asesora para la Integración de las Personas Discapacitadas] for them to provide the comprehensive coverage of the medical services the plaintiff needed due to her disability. The National Commission argued that …Read more

The applicant was severely disabled as a result of Down’s Syndrome. The applicant lived with her mother, her nearest relative. She often exhibited difficult behavior and towards the end of 2002 social workers had become extremely concerned about the impact on the physical and mental health of the applicant and her mother. On 31 January …Read more

Fifteen criminal convicts sentenced to the death penalty challenged their sentences as in violation of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which protects the right to life. They claimed that the executive orders rejecting their mercy petitions were passed without considering supervening events, including delay, insanity, solitary confinement, and procedural lapses. Two convicts alleged that the …Read more

Atudorei, a Romanian citizen, alleged that, from an early age, she has been subjected to continued physical and psychological abuse by her parents. The abuse had escalated after they discovered that she attended yoga classes organised by the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA), an organisation that was targeted by the police and …Read more

The claimant, DD, a Somali man, was granted asylum and indefinite leave to remain shortly after his arrival in the UK in 2003. Due to his involvement in fundraising for Al-Shabaab, a Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measure (TPIM) was imposed in 2012. He was charged with breaching the TPIM, remanded into custody, and was sentenced …Read more