Petitioner Berishvili requested reimbursement from defendants Rustavi City Hall and LLC “Cultural and Recreational Park” for medical expenses incurred by her son after he was injured in a city park. Petitioner and her son went to the Cultural Recreation Park in Rustavi City. While at the park, a poisonous snake bit her son who required …Read more

Petitioners challenged the constitutionality of Article 9 of Costa Rica’s tobacco regulation act, which provided for a partial ban on cigar and cigarette advertisement. In their submission, petitioners claimed the constitutional standard to safeguard the right to health, to life and to a clean environment could not be appropriately fulfilled by such a partial ban, …Read more

Residents of Ilo, Peru and representatives of deceased Ilo residents brought personal injury claims under the Alien Tort Claims Act (“ATCA”) against Southern Peru Copper Corporation (“SPCC”). SPCC was majority-owned by Asarco, a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Peru. Asarco was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grupo Mexico, S.A. de C.V., a …Read more

A petition was filed by the Smoke Affected Residents’ Forum seeking appropriate directions from the Court for measures to control and reduce auto emissions from vehicles plying in Mumbai. These were with respect to the consumption of unleaded petrol, reduction of sulphur content in diesel oil, issuance of ‘Pollution Under Control’ certificates and ensuring that …Read more

Petitioners filed a writ petition arguing that the environment of Dhaka City and the health of its inhabitants were under threat from the “emissions of hazardous smokes and noises in the air from faulty and unfit motor vehicles lacking road worthiness as required by law.” An investigation conducted by the petitioner and the Executive Committee …Read more

Tobacco related diseases caused an estimated eight hundred thousand deaths in India per year, with treatment of tobacco caused diseases resulting in a loss of Rs. 13,500 Crores annually. The World Health Organisation estimated that up to seven million deaths, worldwide, per year were attributable to tobacco related disease, of which sixty million deaths occurred …Read more

Brindavan Colony was draining untreated sewage into the municipal underground pipeline and the Papireddy tank, which tank supplied water to the residents of Kavali. The Kavali municipality had failed to provide a proper drainage system, resulting in polluted water and the outbreak of mosquito-born epidemics. There was a nearby water supply scheme being built which, …Read more

The applicant, a public interest organisation, brought an application in the public interest seeking a declaration that unregulated smoking in public areas is a violation of the constitutional rights of non-smokers to life and to a clean and healthy environment. Article 50(2) of Uganda’s Constitution provides that “[a]ny person or organization may bring an action …Read more

Applicant Joseph Eryau made a motion to be heard in opposition to Application No. 39/2001. The declarations being sought in the motion of Application No. 39/2001 would state that “smoking in a public place constitutes a violation of the rights of the non-smoking members of the public to a clean and healthy environment as prescribed …Read more

Applicant Joseph Eryau made a motion to be heard in opposition to Application No. 39/2001. Of the five declarations proposed in the motion of Application No. 39/2001, all but two were struck down (including those orders which criminalized smoking in public places). The remaining two proposed that “smoking in a public place constitutes a violation …Read more

The Petitioner was the Secretary of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) until his death. He was concerned about the increase in industrial pollution in the country and the Government’s lack of combative measures to tackle the issue. The Department of Environment, Pollution Control had carried out a survey identifying 903 industries that caused ecological imbalances …Read more

The applicant alleged that the military government of Nigeria (Government), in its efforts to produce oil through the State-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), contaminated the environment of the Ogoni People and led to environmental degradation and health problems among that community. More specifically, the applicant claimed that the NNPC, acting within a consortium with …Read more

The petitioner, Mr. T Ramakrishna Rao, was a member of the A.P. High Court Bar. He wrote a letter dated 13-12-1998 to the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The basis of the letter was a news article titled “A Victim of Urbanisation” published in an english daily, The Indian Express on 28-11-1998. The article highlighted the …Read more

The above judgment combined two writ petitions that both dealt with the effect of tobacco advertisements on public health. The Petitioner in Writ Petition No. 1825 of 1999 was Prof. Nurul Islam, President of ADHUNIK (Aamra Dhumpan Nibaron Kori). Section 3 of the Tamakjato Shamogri Biponon Niontroner Jonno Pronito Ain, 1988 provided that all tobacco …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 respondents entered into a draft agreement with a leading US mining company for the exploration of phosphate deposits in Eppawela, an agriculturally developed area of great historical importance and archaeological value. The proposed area of exploration was described as land ‘initially covering 56 square kilometers’. The petitioners, residents of Eppawela, started proceedings in the …Read more

Respondent industry sought to establish a new factory in the State of Andhra Pradesh to produce vegetable oils. The industry purchased land in Peddashpur village, within 10KM of two reservoirs that provided drinking water for 5 million people. In 1988, the Ministry of Forests and Environment established a “red” list of hazardous industries, including industry …Read more

The Petitioner, S.K. Garg, filed a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India (original writ jurisdiction of High Courts). The petition brought to the Court’s attention the appalling and unhygienic condition of Government hospitals in the city of Allahabad. It was alleged that indigent patients had been …Read more

This case concerned the impact of Hungary’s constitutional guarantee of the right to life on its parliament’s ability to pass abortion laws. Petitioners submitted that Hungary’s Act LXXIX/1992 on the Protection of Foetal Life (“the Act”), regarding permissible abortion, was unconstitutional. The Act allowed a pregnant woman to have an abortion if she was “in …Read more

Amongst the several chemicals used industrially, some insecticides, colour additives and food additives (the chemicals) were approved for use in India even though they were banned in “advanced countries” as they carried carcinogenic properties. These facts were mentioned in a letter sent by Dr. Ashok (the Petitioner) to the Chief Justice of India. The Court …Read more

Petition stated that no appropriate steps had been taken by the Municipal Board to take custody of the stray dogs roaming in the public roads, despite the Municipal Board’s responsibility to keep the public spaces clean and abate public nuisances. These stray dogs had created a hindrance in public transport and had proved dangerous to …Read more

The public defender brought a guarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) to protect the health of children in the indigenous community of Paynemil whose drinking water supply had been contaminated with lead and mercury by an oil company’s operations. The State was alleged to have arbitrarily failed to protect the right to …Read more

The Petitioner, Legal and Environmental Analysis for Development and Research Services (Pvt.) Ltd. (LEADERS Inc) was a company that conducted research on environmental issues and promoted conservation. One of the Respondents, Godavari Marble Industries, was engaged in marble masonry. The Petitioner contended that the activities of the Respondent, including blasting and mining, were causing severe …Read more

The Supreme Court of Pakistan took suo moto cognizance of a news report in the English daily “Dawn” titled “N-Waste to be dumped in Balochistan?” The article stated that coastal areas in the Balochistan region were being acquired for the purposes of dumping nuclear and industrial waste. The Court had earlier directed the Chief Secretary …Read more

Residents and mineworkers of Khewra filed a petition under Article 184(3) of the Pakistani Constitution alleging that a lease had been improperly granted to a mining company within a reserved water catchment area, thus endangering the potability of the resident’s water supply which could be contaminated by poisonous water seeping from the mine. A government-constituted …Read more

The City Government of Caloocan disposed of approximately 350 tons of garbage daily in Tala Estate, Barangay Camarin against the wishes of local residents, who were concerned about the environmental and health impact of the dumpsite. In March 1991, the Task Force Camarin Dumpsite of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish filed a complaint with the …Read more

The petitioner claimed that that s. 13(7)(4) of Act II of 1993 on Land Reallocation and Land Distribution Committees (the “Land Reallocation Act”) violated Article 18 of the Constitution of Hungary (the “Constitution”) and requested that the Constitutional Court declare an annulment of the provision. The Land Reallocation Act repealed s. 19 of Act II …Read more

Petitioner, a medical practitioner, filed a petition requesting that the court direct the State of Madhya Pradesh and the Municipal Corporation, Gwalior to clean up the open drains, dirt, and contaminated water and rubbish which the petitioner claimed resulted in the spread of a cholera epidemic. The Municipal Corporation claimed that it performed it obligatory …Read more

Electroquimica Pesada S.A. (the “Company”), was operating with outdated equipment and was releasing emissions of chlorine and other noxious gases into the environment that posed harm to both its employees as well as the residents of Nicaragua.  The Company was required to shut down its operations by a series of orders issued by the Minister …Read more

Technology Developers, the Petitioner, was a private corporation engaged in the manufacture and export of charcoal briquettes. The mayor of Bulacan, a nearby town, sent a letter to Technology Developers, expressing concern over the pollution emitted by the Petitioner in the form of fumes that “not only pollute the air in the locality but also …Read more