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 Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), a non-governmental organization, filed a case against the Federal Republic of Nigeria alleging human rights violations as a result of the government’s failure to ensure adequate environmental protection in the Niger Delta due to oil spillage. SERAP alleged that decades of oil prospection and exploitation by private corporations …Read more

Exercising its obligatory preliminary control powers, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus considered the constitutionality of the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Making Alterations and Addenda to Certain Laws of the Republic of Belarus on Social Protection of the Disabled People (the Law). The law made amendments and additions to previous …Read more

The issues presented in this case involved citizens living in poverty and the gaps in essential services provided by the government. The first issue was the availability of cash assistance to new mothers. The petitioners alleged that, per past orders of the Supreme Court, benefits should be made available to them under both the National …Read more

This case deals with two petitions, Laxmi Mandal v. Deen Dayal Hari Nagar Hospital and Jaitun v. Maternity Home, MCD, Jungpura. Shanti Devi, Laxmi Mandal’s (the Petitioner) sister, died shortly after giving birth to a premature baby. This was her sixth pregnancy. The previous pregnancy ended in miscarriage. Shanti Devi was not provided with any …Read more

The appellant, Asaduzzaman, was charged with contravening s.30AA of the Food Business Regulation, Cap. 132, which prohibits a permittee of a fresh provision shop license from allowing live poultry on the premises between 8:00PM of each day to 5:00AM the next day. On the evening of 4 September 2008, Asaduzzaman took four live chickens from …Read more

The claimants, residents of Mainland China, were parents and their children who suffered physical injuries from consuming contaminated dairy products. The claimants sought monetary compensation from the defendant, from whom they had purchased the contaminated products. The defendant is a 43% material shareholder of Sanlu Group, the manufacturer and distributor of the products. The claimants …Read more

Argentina’s Human Rights Ombudsman brought a claim against the National Government and the Province of Chaco to force Respondents to take the necessary measures to improve the deleterious living conditions of an indigenous community in Chaco that amounted to circumstances of extreme emergency. The Ombudsman claimed that the community lacked fundamental and basic necessities as …Read more

The plaintiffs were residents of a group of islands heavily affected by the 2004 tsunami. They argued that they were facing a number of problems which the local administration could take steps to mitigate and that the problems required immediate governmental action. They argued that, while there were relief funds, these funds were not being …Read more

Plaintiff filed a guarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) against the Province of Buenos Aires and the Federal State  alleging that, due to omissions attributable to both states, her children suffered from malnutrition. She requested that the Court issue a provisional measure ordering the respondents to promptly satisfy the most basic nutritional and …Read more

Petitioners, leaders of the Yakye Axa indigenous community of the Enxet-Lengua people, filed suit against the Republic of Paraguay alleging violations articles 4 (right to life) and 25 (right to judicial Protection) of the American Convention on Human Rights (the Convention). They further alleged that Paraguay ignored article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil …Read more

The case was regarding multiple suo moto orders issued by the Rajasthan High Court to the municipal authorities of the city of Jaipur to clean-up, restore and maintain the city which was plagued with trash, open sewage and polluted water bodies. Specific orders were issued to remove and dispose of the plastic and polyethylene bags …Read more

Woman living in extreme poverty brought an action against the Ministry of Social Development and Environment of the Nation, the Province of Buenos Aires, and Hospital of Pediatrics Profesor Juan P. Garrahan on behalf of her eight children and herself, seeking, among others, the protection of their rights to food, health, education, and housing; the …Read more

The appellant owed the respondent and her daughter a maintenance debt that had accumulated to about 1.25 million New Shekel, having previously failed to pay regular maintenance and child support payments to his wife and daughter.  Being unable to afford this amount as a lump sum, he sought to have the Head of the Execution …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

Six communications jointly alleged that the Mauritanian state committed numerous human rights violations from 1986 to 1992. Specifically, the communications alleged that the State violated articles 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, and 26 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (“the Charter”), which came into …Read more

R was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment by the Chief Magistrate for the offence of escaping from lawful custody contrary to s 138 of the Penal Code Cap 17. In addition the Commissioner of Prisons imposed sanctions on R for the escape under the Prisons Act Cap 86, ss 83(1)A(i) and (vi) and paras 123(3) …Read more

Victor Rosario Congo, an Ecuadorian, was placed in a detention center pending investigations into criminal charges. There were indications that he suffered from a mental disorder. In September 12, 1990, Mr. Congo was placed in an isolation cell at which time a guard assaulted him in the Rehabilitation Center, inflicting a wound to his head. …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

Carpet industries in Uttar Pradesh employed children, under the age of 14, where they were “being treated as slaves” and were “subjected to physical torture.” This writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court under Article 32 as a public interest matter. The Court immediately commissioned a report to determine whether children under the age …Read more

The Petitioner, Secretary of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, filed a writ petition in the High Court, which contended that the importation of adulterated, radioactive skimmed milk into Bangladesh violated the fundamental right to life. Danish Condensed Milk Bangladesh Ltd. had imported several consignments of skimmed milk into Bangladesh. The Radiation Testing Laboratory (RTL) of the …Read more

In a communication submitted to the United Nations Humans Right Committee (“UNHRC”), Yvonne M’Boissona asserted that her brother, François Bozize, led a coup d’état in the Central African Republic in 1982. After fleeing the country, he was arrested in July 1989 in Benin, repatriated to the Central African Republic by force, and imprisoned at a …Read more

This writ petition had been filed in the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution (right to move the Supreme Court for violation of fundamental rights), as a result of a letter outlining the condition of women in a “care home.” It was alleged in the letter that female inmates were made to live …Read more

This case was an appeal by the State of Colorado (“Colorado”) and Colorado prison officials, challenging an order from the Colorado Federal District Court directing the State of Colorado to close the maximum security unit of the Colorado State Penitentiary at Canon City (“Old Max”). Inmate Fidel Ramos filed a complaint alleging that the conditions …Read more