The Global Health and Human Right Database is a free online database of law from around the world relating to health and human rights. It offers an interactive, searchable, and fully indexed website of case law, national constitutions and international instruments and is the first attempt to comprehensively make available health and human rights law from both common and civil law jurisdictions.
Case Research
QUICK SEARCH:
Type your search term of interest into the custom Google search bar at the top. If you begin to type in a search term which is one of our selected keyword terms, the full term will be prompted to you.
In addition to the Google search bar, we have categorized cases in various ways to allow for easy searching:
By: JurisdictionCountry: You can search for all cases in a particular country in two quick ways:
- Click on your country of interest on the map which appears on the Database homepage. You will be taken to a page listing all judgments from that country.
- Scroll down on the homepage until you see the blue tabs. Click on “Judgments by Country”. The top five countries with the most judgments will appear as options. If your country of interest is not listed there, click on “List all Countries”. From here, click on the relevant region and select your country of interest. You will be taken to a page listing all judgments from that country.
Region: You can search for all cases in a particular region by scrolling down the homepage until you see the blue tabs. Click on “Judgments by Region” and select your region of interest. You will be taken to a page listing all judgments from that region.
By: Health Topic
There are two quick ways to search for your Health Topic of interest:- Click on the dark red “Health Topics” tab above the map on the homepage and select your Health Topic of interest. Only those countries with judgments which have been tagged with your Health Topic of interest will remain highlighted. Click on a country to see all judgments tagged with your Health Topic of interest from that jurisdiction.
- Scroll down on the homepage until you see the blue tabs. Click on “Judgments by Health Topics”. The top five health topics with the most tagged judgments will appear as options. If your Health Topic of interest is not listed there, click on “List all Health Topics”. From here, click on your Health Topic of interest.
The Health Topics used by the Database are:
- Aging
- Child and adolescent health
- Chronic and noncommunicable diseases
- Controlled substances
- Diet and nutrition
- Disabilities
- Disasters and emergencies
- Environmental health
- Health care and health services
- Health information
- Health systems and financing
- HIV/AIDS
- Hospitals
- Infectious diseases
- Informed consent
- Medical malpractice
- Medicines
- Mental health
- Occupational health
- Poverty
- Prisons
- Public safety
- Sexual and reproductive health
- Tobacco
- Violence
- Water, sanitation and hygiene
By: Human Rights
There are two quick ways to search for your Human Right of interest:
- Click on the dark red “Human Right” tab above the map on the homepage and select your Human Right of interest. Only those countries with judgments which have been tagged with your Human Right of interest will remain highlighted. Click on a country to see all judgments tagged with your Human Right of interest from that jurisdiction.
- Scroll down on the homepage until you see the blue tabs. Click on “Judgments by Human Right”. The top five Human Rights with the most tagged judgments will appear as options. If Human Right of interest is not listed there, click on “List all Human Right”. From here, click on your Human Right of interest.
The Human Rights relevant to this Database are:
- Freedom from discrimination
- Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
- Freedom of association
- Freedom of expression
- Freedom of movement and residence
- Freedom of religion
- Right of access to information
- Right to a clean environment
- Right to acquire nationality
- Right to bodily integrity
- Right to development
- Right to due process/fair trial
- Right to education
- Right to family life
- Right to favorable working conditions
- Right to food
- Right to health
- Right to housing
- Right to liberty and security of person
- Right to life
- Right to participation
- Right to privacy
- Right to property
- Right to social security
- Right to water and sanitation
- Right to work
- Rights to the benefits of culture
By: Adjudicatory Body
International Bodies: You can search for a particular international adjudicatory body by scrolling down on the homepage until you see the blue tabs. Click on “International Bodies”. The top five international adjudicatory bodies with the most tagged judgments will appear as options. If your international body of interest is not listed there, click on “List all International Bodies” for the complete list.
Regional Bodies: You can search for a particular regional adjudicatory body by scrolling down on the homepage until you see the blue tabs. Click on “Regional Bodies”. The top five regional adjudicatory bodies with the most tagged judgments will appear as options. If your international body of interest is not listed there, click on “List all Regional Bodies”. From here, select your Regional Body of interest.
FILTERING CASES
Once you have pulled up a list of cases fromby selecting a country, judicial body, Health Topic or Human Right, you can filter the results. The filter function lets you select Health Topics, Human Rights, or Tags in order to narrow your search. (Tags are health-related keywords that we use to provide more precision to the Health Topics.) A complete list of Tags and how Tags are categorized by Health Topic are shown in Table 1 below.
If you select only one term in a field, only results that include that term will be shown. If you select multiple terms within a field, then any case that has been marked with at least one of those terms will be shown. For example, if you filter by selecting “Child and adolescent health” as a Health Topic and “Right of access to information” and “Right to privacy” as Human Rights, then the resulting cases would all be marked with "Child and adolescent health" and "Right of access to information" or "Right to privacy" (or both "Right of access to information" and "Right to privacy").
ADVANCED SEARCH
The advanced search option (located at the top right of the homepage) allows you to finely filter through all the cases based on their key information. All cases are categorized by Country, Health Topics, Human Rights, Year and Tags.
The advanced searchhas two parts: the top section lets you specify exactly what type of judgmentsyou want to find and the bottom section lets you exclude judgments using the same options. The results will only show judgments that include the terms you select in the top section and exclude the terms you select in the bottom section.
The Advanced Search will allow you to finely tune your search:
- You can search for a combination of terms between fields by choosing the "AND/OR" button below each field. If you click the "AND" button, then your search will return only those judgments which contain all of the terms you have selected. If you choose the "OR" button your search will return any judgment that has been marked with any of your selected terms.
- You can search for a combination of terms withina field by choosing the "AND/OR" button to the right of the field. If you click the "AND" button, then your search will return only those judgments which contain all of the terms you have selected. If you choose the “OR” button your search will return any judgment which has been marked with any of your selected terms.
Here are some examples of how to use the advanced search:
- If you're interested in disabilities but not child disabilities: In your search you should include the Health Topic "Disabilities" and exclude the Health Topic "Child and adolescent health".
- If you're interested in the criminalization of illicit or pharmaceutical drugs: In your search you can select the Health Topics "Controlled substances" and "Medicines", make sure to keep the OR selected between them, and you can select the Tag "Criminalization".
- If you're interested in what the Human Rights Committee has said in regards to the right to health for the Global South: In your search you can include the International and Regional Body "United Nations Human Rights Committee", the Human Right "Right to Health" and exclude the Region of "Europe" and the Countries "Canada" and "United States".
HELPFUL HINT: If all else fails… check out our “Resources” page, where we have linked to other Databases that can assist in your search.
JUDGMENT PAGE
On each Judgment page, you’ll find the following information:- The Judgment Details, including case name, citation, country, region, year, court, and relevant keywords (by Health Topic, Human Right and Tags).
- Text and/or translation of the judgment.
- A summary of the facts and the decision and reasoning of the case.
- Key excerpts from the judgment.
- Any additional documents related to the judgment.
- Related Judgments – other judgments that share numerous keywords with the judgment being viewed.
Check out the list of “Related Judgments” which will appear on the right hand side of the screen on any particular judgment page. These “Related Judgments” have been selected on account of the number of keywords shared with judgment on whose page they appear.
Other Research Features
CONSTITUTION RESEARCHScroll down on the homepage to find and click on the “National Constitutions Database” tab in the bottom right corner. You’ll be brought to the list of all posted National Constitutions with health-rights related provisions, sorted alphabetically. In addition to the text of the Constitution, each page entry gives information about the constitution’s year of adoption and entry into force, the relevant human rights covered, and includes pertinent excerpts.
Helpful hint: You can filter these results by clicking on the red tab “Region” or “Human Right” which appears at the top the listing page for the National Constitutions Database.
INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL INSTRUMENTS RESEARCHScroll down on the homepage to find and click on the “International and Regional Instruments Database” tab in the bottom right corner. You’ll be brought to the list of all posted International and Regional Instruments (agreement and treaties) with health-rights related provisions, sorted in reverse chronological order. In addition to the text of the instrument, each page entry gives information about the instrument’s year of adoption and entry into force, region and legal status, and includes pertinent excerpts.
Helpful hint: You can filter these results by clicking on the red tab “Region” or “Legal Status” which appears at the top the listing page for the International and Regional Instruments Database.
Our Partners
The Database could not be possible without the generous collaboration of our many partners worldwide. To see all of our partner organizations, individuals and funders, please click here.TABLE 1: HEALTH TOPICS AND TAGS
| HEALTH TOPICS | TAGS |
|---|---|
| Aging | Aged persons, Home care, Elderly, Long-term care, Older persons, Nursing home, Senior citizens |
| Child and adolescent health | Child development, Child marriage, Child mortality, Children, Infant health, Infant mortality, Minor, Pediatric health |
| Chronic and noncommunicable diseases | Asthma, Cancer, Diabetes, Heart disease, Genetic disease, Kidney disease, Leukemia, Liver disease, Lung disease, Noncommunicable diseases, Neurological diseases, Pulmonary diseases, Respiratory diseases, Skin disease, Stroke |
| Controlled substances | Addiction, Buprenorphine, Cocaine, Crack-cocaine, Drug abuse, Drug enforcement, Drug use, Heroin, IDUs, Injecting drug users, Alcohol, Marijuana, Methadone, Morphine, Opioids, Opium, Palliative care, People who use drugs, Performance-enhancing drugs, Psychotropic drugs, Rehabilitation, Substance abuse |
| Diet and nutrition | Dehydration, Diet, Drought, Food-borne diseases, Food, Food poisoning, Food safety, Food shortages, Genetically-modified food, Hunger, Hunger strike, Obesity, Malnutrition, Starvation, Stunting |
| Disabilities | Blind, Deaf, Disabled, Differently abled, Handicapped, Mute, Physically challenged |
| Disasters and emergencies | Flooding, Humanitarian crisis, Manmade disaster, Natural disaster, Nuclear disaster |
| Environmental health | Air pollution, Biohazard, Biosafety, Climate change, Contamination, Environmental degradation, Environmental hazards, Global warming, Herbicide, Industrial waste, Insecticide, Nuclear radiation, Nuclear waste, Pesticide, Pollution, Poisoning, Precautionary principle, Radiation, Toxic waste, Water pollution |
| Health care and health services | Access to health care, Access to treatment, Counseling, Diagnostics, Emergency care, Examination, Health care technology, Primary care, Secondary care, Tertiary care, Testing |
| Health information | Advertising, Awareness, Confidentiality, Disclosure, Electronic health information, Electronic health records, Freedom of information, Health data, Health education, Health promotion, Health records, Medical records, Non-disclosure, Notification, Secrecy |
| Health systems and financing | Budget, Health expenditures, Health funding, Health insurance, Health regulation, Health spending, Out-of-pocket expenditures, Reimbursement, Social security, Subsidies |
| HIV/AIDS | AIDS, Blood transfusion, HIV, HIV positive, HIV status, Most-at-risk, People living with HIV/AIDS, PLHIV, Transmission |
| Hospitals | Clinics, Health facilities, Private hospitals, Public hospitals |
| Infectious diseases | Avian influenza, Chagas, Cholera, Dengue, Dysentery, Hepatitis, Herpes, Influenza, Leprosy, Malaria, Measles, Meningitis, Pneumonia, Polio, Rubella, SARS, Sexually transmitted diseases, Sexually transmitted infections, Smallpox, STDs, STIs, Syphilis, TB, Tuberculosis, Typhoid |
| Informed consent | Clinical trials, Compulsory examination, Compulsory testing, Compulsory treatment, Experimental treatment, Forced examination, Forced treatment, Informed choice, Involuntary examination, Involuntary testing, Involuntary treatment, Mandatory examination, Mandatory testing, Mandatory treatment, Non-consensual testing and treatment, Non-evidence based treatment, Patient choice, Unauthorized treatment |
| Medical malpractice | Compensation, Damages, Duty of care, Inadequate treatment, Inappropriate treatment, Misdiagnosis, Negligence, Non-pecuniary damage, Remedies, Standard of care, Tort |
| Medicines | Access to drugs, Access to medicines, Alternative medicine, Antimalarial, Antiretrovirals, ARVs, Clinical testing, Clinical trials, Drug quality, Drug safety, Drug testing, Essential medicines, Faith-based medicine, First-line treatment, Generic drugs, Immunization, Indigenous medicine, Intellectual property, Labeling, Manufacturing, Patents, Pharmaceuticals, Pricing, Second-line treatment, Spurious medicines, Traditional medicine, TRIPS, Vaccination, Vaccines |
| Mental health | Bipolar, Community-based care, Compulsory commitment, Compulsory confinement, Depression, Incapacity, Incompetence, Insanity, Involuntary commitment, Involuntary confinement, Isolation, Mandatory commitment, Mandatory confinement, Mental competence, Mental disability, Mental disorder, Mental illness, Mental institution, Mental retardation, Paranoia, Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychosis, Schizophrenia, Seclusion, Sociopath, Suicide, Trauma |
| Occupational health | Asbestos, Industrial hygiene, Informal economy, Job safety, Occupational accident, Occupational disease, Occupational hazards, Occupational health and safety, Safe working conditions, Workers’ compensation |
| Poverty | Indigent, Low income, Poor, Underprivileged |
| Prisons | Abuse, Cruel and unusual punishment, Cruel treatment, Custody, Degrading treatment, Detainee, Detention, Execution, Humiliating treatment, Imprisonment, Incarceration, Inhuman treatment, Inmate, Jail, Prison conditions, Solitary confinement, Torture |
| Public safety | Air safety, Mob, Safety regulation, Terrorism, Threat of violence, Traffic safety, Water safety |
| Sexual and reproductive health | Abortion, Abortion counseling, Abortion technique, Assisted reproductive technology, Birth control, Bisexual, Breast feeding, Buggery, Caesarean, Childbirth, Civil union, Compulsory sterilization, Condoms, Conscientious objection, Contraceptives, Contraception, Domestic partnership, Eclampsia, Family planning, Female genital mutilation, Fertility, Forced abortion, Forced sterilization, Gay, Gender identity, Gender identity disorder, Gender reassignment, Homosexual, Hormone therapy, Infertility, In utero fertilization, In vitro fertilization, Intersex, Involuntary sterilization, Judicial bypass, Late-term abortion, Lesbian, LGBTI, Mandatory sterilization, Maternal health, Maternal mortality, Midwifery, Miscarriage, Parental consent, Parental notification, Partial birth abortion, Pregnancy, Queer, Sex reassignment, Sex-selective abortion, Sexual orientation, Sodomy, Spousal consent, Spousal notification, Sterilization, Termination of pregnancy, Therapeutic abortion, Transgender, Transsexual, Unsafe abortion, Viability |
| Tobacco | Passive smoking, Second-hand smoke, Smoking, Smoking cessation, Tobacco control, Tobacco regulation |
| Violence | Assault, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Domestic violence, Hazing, Molestation, Ragging, Rape, Sexual abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence against women |
| Water, sanitation and hygiene | Clean water, Cleanliness, Drinking water, Garbage, Potable water, Safe drinking water, Sewage, Trash, Waste, Waste management, Water pollution, Water-borne disease |
| CROSS-CUTTING RELATED TERMS | |
| Armed conflict, Asylum, Conscientious Objection, Criminalization, Cruel and unusual punishment, Cruel treatment, Degrading treatment, Employment, Execution, Forced disappearance, Forced displacement, Forced labor, Harm reduction, Health care professionals, Health care workers, Humiliating treatment, Immigration, Immigrants, Indigenous groups, Inhuman treatment, Informal economy, Law enforcement, Migrants, Military, Militias, Police, Refugees, Sex workers, Terrorism, Torture | |