Williams v. Jamaica
Country: JamaicaYear: 1997
Court: United Nations Human Right Committee
Citation: Communication No 609/1995, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/61/D/609/1995 (4 November 1997)
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to health
Williams (W) was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in December 1988. His appeal was dismissed in December 1990 and a senior lawyer advised him that an application to the judicial committee of the privy council for special leave to appeal would have no prospect of success. An appeal against the classification of his …Read more
A. & Ors. v. Denmark
Country: DenmarkYear: 1996
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: App. No. 20826/92, 22 Eur. H.R. Rep. 458 (1996).
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Health systems and financing, HIV/AIDS, Hospitals, Infectious diseases, Medical malpractice
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial
The applicants were Danish citizens infected with HIV through State administered blood transfusions, who filed a violation of Article 6 of the Convention (right to court) claim. Eight of the applicants were victims and two were relatives of victims, who through frequent blood transfusions at Danish Hospitals were infected with HIV. The eight applicants/victims joined …Read more
Aksoy v. Turkey
Country: TurkeyYear: 1996
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Judgment of the ECtHR, 18 December 1996
Health Topics: Disasters and emergencies, Health care and health services, Medical malpractice, Prisons, Violence
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to bodily integrity, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to life
Aksoy (A) claimed that in November 1992 he was taken into custody by twenty policemen after M (another detainee with them) had allegedly identified him as a member of the PKK which was engaged in a conflict with security forces for Kurdish autonomy. This conflict had resulted in nearly 8,000 deaths and there was a …Read more
Lowns v. Woods; Procopis v. Woods
Country: AustraliaYear: 1996
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales
Citation: [1996] Aust Torts Reports 81
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Chronic and noncommunicable diseases, Health care and health services, Health information, Medical malpractice, Medicines
The plaintiff is the father of a child who suffered from seizures and who received brain damage due to a particular seizure. During that particular seizure, the mother had sent another child to call the local doctor, one of the defendants, who did not come. As New Zealand imposes a statutory duty on doctors to …Read more
Mahendra Pratap Singh v. State of Orissa and Others
Country: IndiaYear: 1996
Court: High Court - Orissa
Citation: AIR 1997 Ori 37
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Hospitals
Human Rights: Right to health, Right to life
The Government of Orissa had failed to open a health facility in a village, despite meeting a number of prescribed conditions. The first condition concerned the minimum provision of land by the local people, within a prescribed timeframe. The second requirement was the provision of adequate buildings for the facility and staff. The Petitioner claimed …Read more
B (R) v. Children’s Aid Society of Metropolitan Toronto
Country: CanadaYear: 1995
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: [1995] 1 SCR 315; (1995) 122 DLR (4th) 1; [1995] 4 LRC 107
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Health care and health services
Human Rights: Freedom of religion, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to life
The appellant parents of a premature baby objected on religious grounds to their child being given a blood transfusion, despite medical opinion that such treatment might be necessary to save the baby’s life. The Provincial Court granted the respondent Society temporary wardship of the baby pursuant to the Child Welfare Act, and a blood transfusion …Read more
R v. Cambridge Health Authority, ex parte Beckwith
Country: United KingdomYear: 1995
Court: Court of Appeal, Civil Division
Citation: [1995] 2 All ER 129 (CA); [1995] EWCA Civ 49
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Chronic and noncommunicable diseases, Health care and health services, Health systems and financing, Hospitals, Informed consent, Medicines
Human Rights: Right to health, Right to life
The child “B” had a long history of unsuccessful treatments fo her cancer. In January 1995, B suffered a further relapse of acute myeloid leukaemia. Both the doctor who oversaw B’s treatment since the initial diagnosis and the doctor who performed a prior bone marrow transplant agreed that the child had approximately six to eight …Read more
Canada (Attorney General) v. Thwaites
Country: CanadaYear: 1994
Court: Federal Court - Trial Division
Citation: [1994] 3 F.C. 38
Health Topics: Disabilities, Health care and health services, HIV/AIDS, Medicines, Occupational health, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Freedom from discrimination, Right to work
Simon Thwaites filed a complaint against the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), alleging that it discriminated against him under the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) by restricting his employment because of his HIV-positive status. Thwaites enlisted in the CAF in 1980 and by 1986 had risen to the rank of master seaman, a position that primarily …Read more
Doe v. Wigginton
Country: United StatesYear: 1994
Court: 6th Circuit Court of Appeal
Citation: 21 F.3d 733 (1994)
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Health information, HIV/AIDS, Infectious diseases, Medicines, Prisons
Human Rights: Right of access to information, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to privacy
The Appellant, Doe, a prisoner incarcerated in Kentucky, brought this challenge alleging his constitutional rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments were violated by Policy 13.5 (the Policy), a Kentucky rule which restricted the eligibility of inmates for “at-request” HIV testing. In January 1989, at an initial medical screening following his incarceration, Doe requested that …Read more
Hurtado v. Switzerland
Country: SwitzerlandYear: 1994
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Case No. 37/1993/432/511 [1994] ECHR 280
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Prisons
While arresting Mr. Hurtado, Swiss police officers threw a stun grenade, forced Mr. Hurtado to the ground, and handcuffed and hooded him. The officers allegedly then beat Mr. Hurtado until he lost consciousness, and he was not allowed to change out of his dirty clothes for at least a day. Mr. Hurtado asked to see …Read more