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 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

This case relates to the lawfulness and material conditions of the detention of an Uzbek refugee in Turkish holding facilities. The applicant and his family sought refuge in Turkey. The applicant was refused entry. He was placed in a detention facility at the airport pending his repatriation. The applicant’s new asylum request was rejected, to …Read more

The applicant and his daughter were admitted to the hospital as they suffered from serious dysentery after drinking tap water. She ensued action against the State-owned utilities provided. The District Court ruled in her favor. The Higher Courts confirmed the findings of the first instance but reduced the award by more than half of the …Read more

The claimant water company alleged that France’s prohibition on allowing water providers to interrupt the provision of drinking water to users who did not pay their bills violated the constitutionally protected rights of contractual freedom and entrepreneurial freedom and the principles of equality before the law and public expenditures, especially considering that the electricity, heating, …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

This case was about the scope of the constitutional right of access to a water supply. The applicant was a resident of Kwa-Ngquba Locality and the respondent was a District Municipality responsible for providing water services under the Water Service Act 108 of 2017. The case of the applicant was that in 2004, the respondent …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

The Environment & Consumer Protection Foundation (the petitioner) was a registered charitable society, and filed the petition to the Indian Supreme Court (‘the court’) in 2004 by which it sought various directions to improve the conditions of government and aided schools, and schools run by local authorities so that the constitutional objective of providing free …Read more

The petitioners claimed that a group of armed police officers arrived on their land and without warning or a court order begun demolishing the houses and structures of the petitioners, leaving them homeless. Further, they alleged that police used tear gas and physical violence to evict the petitioners, who were resisting the demolition. The petitioners …Read more

Appellants, a married couple who are members of an indigenous community known as the “Basarwa,” sought reversal of a High Court decision that had denied members of the Basarwa communities a constitutional right to utilize at their own expense a borehole located within the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) for purposes of extracting and using …Read more

Water in Silobela, Carolina Town and Caropark neighbourhoods in the town of Carolina, South Africa was contamintaed by acid mines severaly rendering it unfit for consumption. Water tanks were brought in from neighboring towns to supply drinking water to the town’s residents, but some of the tanks were not refilled, and some were not refilled …Read more

The City of Cape Town entered into an agreement with the individual members of the community for building over 1300 toilets. The City authorities stated that the residents would enclose the toilets themselves if the City provided one toilet per household. The Applicants argued that due to lack of finances, most of the toilets were …Read more

Five impoverished residents of Phiri in Soweto filed a legal action against the City of Johannesburg, the water provider company wholly owned by the City, and the Ministry of Water Affairs and Forestry, challenging the legality of Operation Gcin’amanzi–a project the City of Johannesburg piloted in Phiri in early 2004 to address the severe problem …Read more

B, a Romanian national, was sentenced to ten years in prison for fraud by the Court of Appeal of Timisoara. In January 2003 B lodged an application with the European Court of Human Rights based on the conditions of his detention in the prisons of Arad and Timisoara. B alleged that Romania violated Article 3 (prohibition of torture) of the European …Read more

Applicants were residents of Kyambogo Lower Estate, where they used a common facility for sanitation in the form of septic tanks. The channels leading to those tanks were located on a road reserve and the Respondent intended to erect a perimeter fence around that road reserve. Respondent was given an offer, containing certain terms and …Read more

Residents of the Matanza-Riachulo river basin brought a class action against the National State, the Province of Buenos Aires, and the city of Buenos Aires, as well as a number of businesses, for injuries resulting from pollution of the area. A lengthy information collecting process began in 2006. The Supreme Court of Argentina found that …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

About one hundred residents of the Kiserian township were approved to construct residential-cum-commercial buildings by county officials, including health officials. A public health officer investigated reports of “indiscriminate discharge of offensive smelling waste matters within the trading centre flowing out of various premises into open channels along the road to the environment and to the …Read more

Plaintiffs sought a permanent injunction to prevent Defendants from continuing to construct a slaughterhouse situated next to their homes, claiming that such construction violated certain environmental statutory provisions and Plaintiffs’ basic right to a clean and healthy environment. The slaughterhouse was almost completely built but had not started operating at the time of the suit. …Read more

This case was originally brought before the First Chamber of the Contentious Administrative Tribunal by a group of organizations of the Amazon Basin in Ecuador who were challenging the fact that Colombia was fumigating with glyphosate (within their plan to eradicate coca) within a 10-km strip from the border of Colombia and Ecuador. The organizations …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 concerned a claim that the sale of PepsiCo and Coca-Cola carbonated beverages should be banned on the account that they are contaminated with pesticide residue and suspended impurities and are therefore harmful to human life. The petitioners relied on the report published by the Centre for Science and Environment (“CSE”), which conducted an …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

On June 21, 2001, the petitioner delivered a baby by the roadside and visited the second respondent’s Naguru Maternity Home/Clinic with the baby still attached to her. She received no medical care and was referred to another hospital. The petitioner was unable to walk the distance and was forced to sit outside with her newborn …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 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

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

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