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, 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 case concerned an Alaskan regulation that restricted low-income women from accessing medically necessary abortion care under Medicaid, in particular over the definition of “medically necessary” abortions. The Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) had funded such abortions after a 2001ruling from the Supreme Court of Alaska struck down a regulation that restricted state-funded …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

This case was filed by the families of two women who died during childbirth and the Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD). They argued that inadequate resources for maternal health violated the right to health under Objectives XIV (b) XX, XV and Article 8A of the Ugandan Constitution, the right to life under …Read more

DG, arrived in the Netherlands from Bulgaria in 2007. She worked at a restaurant and then as a prostitute. She stated in her complaint that she left prostitution after a client held her hostage at gunpoint. Unable to pay her rent, DG became homeless in December 2008. DG applied for shelter under the Social Support …Read more

Petitioner was a 7-year-old boy suffering from a rare genetic disease called Gaucher Disease (a type of Lysosomal Storage Disorder) which, if left untreated, would render him unlikely to survive. Although Enzyme Replacement Therapy (ERT), a monthly, lifelong treatment, would afford him a normal life, the drug, due to low demand arising from the rarity …Read more

Duque and his same-sex partner lived together as a couple for over ten years, until his partner died from AIDS. Four years prior to the death, Duque was diagnosed with HIV and was being treated under support from his partner. When his partner died, Duque asked the COLFONDOS (the pension service) to ask what requirements …Read more

In 2012, the Governor-in-Council passed two orders modifying the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), thereby reducing health insurance coverage for refugee and asylum claimants in Canada. Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care (CDRC) and two groups of lawyers challenged the changes to the program to restore better coverage as the changes had a significant negative impact …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

Three applicants, who were all current or former prostitutes, challenged the constitutionality of three provisions of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985. The three provisions outlawed “bawdy-houses” (also referred to as brothels), “living on the avails” (living off of a prostitutes profits), and public communication with prostitutes. Prostitution was legal in Canada, however, Parliament was allowed …Read more

The state of Cabinda was declared annexed by Angola without any Cabindan participation in 1975. Despite protests by the Cabindan people, Angola exercised sovereignty over Cabinda. Groups in Cabinda attempted to re-claim autonomy of their country in 2002, but Angola undertook a massive military campaign against them. Angola’s large military force committed numerous documented human …Read more

The plaintiffs brought a case before the British Columbia Supreme Court following the 2006-2007 decision by the Ministry of Public Safety to cancel the Mother Baby Program at the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women, a women’s prison. This program had allowed incarcerated mothers and their babies to live at the institution together, subject to the …Read more

After significant political struggles, the US Congress enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010. This act had two components, 1) it obligated individuals to maintain “‘minimum essential’ health insurance coverage” through an individual mandate, 2) it contained an expansion of the federal Medicaid program that is run by US states. The constitutionality …Read more

The eight applicants had previously been citizens of both the former Yugoslavia and one of its constituent republics other than Slovenia. They had acquired permanent residence in Slovenia, but, following its independence, had either not requested Slovenian citizenship or had had their application refused. On 26 February 1992, pursuant to the newly enacted Aliens Act, …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

The petitioners claimed that the lack of provision of basic health maternal commodities in Government Health Facilities and the negligent, unethical behavior of health workers toward expectant mothers in those facilities resulted in violations of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (the “Constitution”). Specifically, the petitioners claimed violations of the right to health and …Read more

The petitioner is a social activist that works on raising concern over the high maternal mortality in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The petitioner alleged that the state’s program to reduce the maternal mortality rate (MMR) had failed to be implemented effectively in Madhya Pradesh. The petitioner had filed this petition, alleging that about …Read more

This case deals with the destruction of the Mayan community of Río Negro by a series of massacres perpetrated by the Guatemalan army and members of the civil self-defence patrols in 1980 and 1982 which, according to the IACmHR, included the persecution and elimination of members of the Mayan community, subsequent violations directed against the …Read more

S, an adult male diagnosed with schizophrenia, lived for many years with his half-sister and step-mother, his closest living relatives, before they applied in 2000 to the Ruse Regional Court to have S declared legally incapacitated. The court declared S only partially incapacitated. S’s family refused to accept guardianship for S, and the court instead …Read more

The Centre for Human Rights and the La Rencontre Africaine pour la Defense des Droits de l’Homme submitted a communication to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in relation to the condition of some schools in Senegal. More than 100,000 children were forced to beg on the streets …Read more

The plaintiff filed a guarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) against the National Institute of Social Services for Retiree [Instituto Nacional de Servicios Sociales para Jubilados y Pensionados – PAMI] in the First Instance Court which admitted the suit and ordered the respondent to pay monthly for the coverage of an domiciliary …Read more

The author of the communication, the mother of a woman who had died during childbirth, claimed that Brazilian authorities had not ensured access to quality medical treatment during her daughter’s delivery in violation of nondiscrimination provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). More specifically, the author of …Read more

On April 3, 2010, the Indonesian Government filed the Budget Amendment Bill of 2010 in Parliament. On May 3, 2010, a Plenary Session of the House of Representatives passed an amendment to the National Budget entitled Law No. 2 of 2010 Concerning the Amendment to Law No. 47 of 2009 Regarding the National Budget for …Read more

The Constitutional Court considered the constitutionality of the Belarusian law On Making Alterations and Addenda to the Law of the Republic of Belarus ‘On guarantees on social protection of orphan children, children left without parental care, and also individuals who belong to the category orphan children and children left without parental care’ (“Orphan Law”). The …Read more

The Brazilian Federal Government filed an interlocutory appeal with the Supreme Court against the decision of the lower court, the Federal Court of the 1st Region (Tribunal Regional Federal da 1ª Região), to dismiss the extraordinary appeal filed to challenge the court’s decision recognizing the legitimacy of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office to propose a public …Read more

The Municipality of Caxias do Sul filed an extraordinary appeal against the decision of the lower court, which had found that the federal, state and municipal governments possessed joint liability to provide medications free of charge, for the treatment of serious disease, to those deemed to be financially needy, in order to abide by the …Read more

Rio Grande do Sul filed an interlocutory appeal against the lower court’s decision that denied the special appeal affirming Rio Grande do Sul’s duty to care for its citizen’s health, specifically by providing surgery and certain medications at no cost to Rinaldo Pinzetta, a needy citizen. The Court also assessed a fine to Rio Grande …Read more

A minor child, L.C., began to be sexually abused at the age of 11 years by a 34-year-old man. Two years later, L.C. became pregnant, and in response, attempted suicide by jumping from a building. L.C. survived her suicide attempt, and she was taken to a public hospital where she was diagnosed with a series …Read more

Appellant Ministry of Public Health (“MSP”) refused to provide the medicine CETUXIMAB to the plaintiff, arguing that, although it was obligated to ensure public health, it had no legal power to dispense medication directly to the population and that its refusal to provide the medicine was  also consistent with the fact that the drug was …Read more