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

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

In Austria, a woman was convicted after leading several seminars entitled “Basic Information on Islam” at the right-wing Freedom Party Education Institute, beginning in January 2008.  These seminars were publicly advertised on the Freedom Party’s website, and the leaders of the Freedom Party distributed leaflets specifically aimed to encourage young voters to attend.  An undercover …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

Section 66 of the Syariah Criminal Enactment of 1992 made it an offence for Muslim males to wear women’s attire or to pose as a woman in a public place. Conviction resulted in a fine or imprisonment not exceeding six months or both. The Appellants were Muslim men with Gender Identity Disorder (GID) who expressed …Read more

Members of transgender community sought a legal declaration of their gender identity, instead of the male or female identity assigned to them at the time of their birth, claiming that that non-recognition of their gender identity violated Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India (the “Constitution”). Hijras and eunuchs, who were also members …Read more

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts amended its Reproductive Health Care Facilities Act (the “Act”), making it a crime to knowingly stand on a “public way or sidewalk” within 35 feet of an entrance or driveway to any abortion clinic. The Act exempted from this prohibition certain individuals, including “employees or agents of such facility acting within the scope …Read more

The United States Leadership against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (Leadership Act), 22 U.S.C. §7601 set forth a strategy to globally combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. Congress authorized the appropriation of billions of dollars to fund efforts by nongovernmental organizations working in this area. The Leadership Act’s conditions stated that: (1) No funds …Read more

Lohé Issa Konaté alleged that his criminal conviction in Burkina Faso for libel was a violation of his right to freedom of expression, contrary to Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (“Charter”) and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”). At the High Court, Konaté …Read more

Section 3(1)(a) of the Tobacco Products Control Act of 1993 (the “Act”) prohibited any person from “advertising” or “promoting” a tobacco product.  The appellant, a tobacco manufacturer, contended that this prohibition should not extend to its one-to-one communication with consenting adult consumers of tobacco products as it was an unconstitutional limit on both the appellant’s …Read more

The applicant is a 50-year old professor specializing in child and adolescent psychiatry, at the University of Gothenburg. A neuropsychiatry research project, the Gothenburg Study, focusing on Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children was carried out from 1977 to 1992 at the University of Gothenburg. The researchers assured “the children’s parents and later to the …Read more

This case concerned the Kichwa nation of the Ecuadorian Amazon, which encompassed two Peoples who shared the same linguistic and cultural tradition. The State of Ecuador had granted a private oil company a permit to carry out oil exploration and exploitation of activities in the ancestral territory of the Kichwa nation. The State did not …Read more

The applicant was a lung specialist in Poland. She couldn’t agree with the chief physician of the ward she had been working in regarding the decisions he had been making in relation to the diagnosis and treatment of patients. The applicant then communicated the matter to the regional consultant for lung diseases, specifying how the …Read more

The applicant is a publisher of a national daily newspaper in the United Kingdom, The Daily Mirror (the “applicant”). In early 2001 the applicant carried a front-page article entitled “Naomi: I am a drug addict”, placed between two color photographs of Ms. Naomi Campbell, a well-known model. The first photograph showed her dressed in a …Read more

Pharmacies, “as a matter of business routine and federal law, receive prescriber-identifying information when processing prescriptions.” This “[k]nowledge of a physician’s prescription practices—called prescriber-identifying information,’” enables marketers representing pharmaceutical drug manufacturers (Detailers) to better “ascertain which doctors are likely to be interested in a particular drug and how best to present a particular sales message.” …Read more

On 7 August 2008, the Defendant, Prita Mulyasari, arrived at Omni International Hospital in Tangerang with symptoms of a fever and dizziness. She was then admitted, and through a series of unfortunate events, ended up receiving unnecessary medication and incorrect lab results under the care of Dr. Hengky. Her condition significantly worsened after an incorrect …Read more

A group of doctors appealed from a decision by a Medical Council of Hong Kong finding them guilty of  failing to ensure that a reference made to the doctors in a magazine article was not promotional, contrary to the Professional Code and Conduct for the Guidance of Registered Medical Practitioners (”Professional Code”). In 2003, a …Read more

The appellant brought this appeal of a decision by the GASABO Intermediate Court that ordered his pre-trial detention for thirty days. The appellant appealed on multiple procedural grounds and also alleged that the lower court failed to properly appreciate the impact of his medical condition in determining whether pre-trial detention was appropriate. The Prosecution alleged …Read more

Petioner brought action before the Constitutional Court, challenging the constitutionality of Law 1335 of 2009, which imposes a general ban on all forms of tobacco promotion, advertisement and sponsorship and in this case, its constitutionality is being questioned. It imposes bans on behaviors aimed at promoting the consumption of a particular group of goods but …Read more

Petitioners were a consortium of tobacco companies that filed a Writ of Amparo challenging the constitutionality of two administrative decrees (i.e., regulations emanated from the Executive Branch) that regulated and implemented Articles 8 (Protection from exposure to tobacco smoke) and 11 (Packaging and labelling of tobacco products) of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control …Read more

The applicants, Mr. Eulalio and Mrs. Ariadna worked as nurses at the Prison of Albacete. The prison had, allegedly, implemented the so-called Syringe Exchange Program (“Program”), a public health program developed by the Penitentiary Health General Sub-Directorate. The experimental Program was launched with the objective of preventing the transmission of diseases between inmates by, among …Read more

On 26 March 2009, the IACmHR submitted to the IACtHR a lawsuit against Brazil, which originated in a petition filed on 7 August 1995 by the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) and Human Rights Watch/Americas. The underlying claims concerned Brazil’s alleged responsibility for the arbitrary detention, torture and forced disappearance of 70 people, …Read more

Miguel Ignacia Fredes Gonzalez and Ana Andrea Tuczek Fries, among others, filed an information request with the Agriculture and Livestock Service (the “SAG”), a department of the State’s Ministry of Agriculture, requesting information and documents related to transgenic crops and their location.The national director of the SAG failed to answer the request within the time …Read more

In May 2007, the State of Panama, without community consultation, granted a concession for the construction of a hydroelectric dam within the traditional lands of an indigenous community, the Ngöbe. Although the construction of the dam was still in its initial stages at the time the petition was filed, the petitioner alleged that the work …Read more

Petitioners alleged that environmental pollution from a metallurgical complex in La Oroya, Peru caused a series of violations of the rights of community members. They alleged Peru was guilty by act and omission for its failure to control the metallurgical complex; its lack of supervision of the facility’s operation; and its failure to adopt measures …Read more

This case was heard together with case 70/2009-0-0. The Petitioners, Miroslav Grcev and Stamen Filipov, challenged the constitutionality of the Anti-Smoking Law (the Law). The Law banned smoking in public premises, advertising cigarettes, and selling cigarettes to persons under the age of 16. Public premises included institutions for education, health, state administration,  public transport, and …Read more

This case was heard together with case 261/2008-0-0. The Petitioners, Miroslav Grcev and Stamen Filipov, challenged the constitutionality of the Anti-Smoking Law (the Law). The Law banned smoking in public premises, advertising cigarettes, and selling cigarettes to persons under the age of 16. Public premises included institutions for education, health, state administration,  public transport, and …Read more

ANVISA (National Agency for Health Surveillance), brought action seeking a review of the lower court’s decision allowing Phillip Morris to refrain from placing the health warnings on the packaging of its tobacco products as required by Resolution 54/2008. The plaintiff alleged that failure to follow the tobacco-control regulation requiring tobacco companies to place a warning …Read more

Petitioner (a consortium of tobacco companies) sought to strike down Resolution N°298 of the Ministry of Public Health SG No. 298, which established stricter and more compelling warning requirements for cigarrette boxes and labels. The consortium alleged the Resolution (of administrative decree status –i.e, infra-legal) had been issued in violation of a hierarchically superior norm, …Read more

In 2004, three associations sent the ship Borndiep to Portugal where abortion was illegal that would stage activities promoting the decriminalization of abortion including distribution of drugs that can induce abortion. Aware of the project, the Portuguese Government prevented the boat from entering its national territory. The three plaintiffs sued Portugal in national courts, which …Read more

Frankowicz worked as a gynecologist preparing medical reports at clients’ request. He wrote a report on the long-term treatment of one of his patients in which it was noted that the client was suffering from chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. Furthermore, Frankowicz wrote that the client’s previous doctor “had failed to take the actions [necessary] for …Read more