In 2010, the New Zealand Human Rights Tribunal (the Tribunal) declared that the New Zealand government’s policy that excluded relatives of disabled persons from receiving public payments for providing home-care disability services  (the Policy) was discriminatory and thus, violated s 19 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act (NZBoRA). The Tribunal’s declaration was challenged …Read more

The Petitioner, a student, was not allowed to sit for the All India Senior School Certificate Examination because of frequent absences from school. The Court accepted that her poor attendance record was attributable to a “special learning disability.” A provision in the school by-laws allowed for exemptions from school attendance policies for blind, physically handicapped …Read more

Ms. Boyle brought a claim against her employer, SCA Packaging, under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (the 1995 Act). Ms. Boyle had been employed by SCA Packaging as a buyer/stock controller since 1969. In 1974, she consulted an ENT specialist about constant hoarseness in her throat. She was diagnosed with nodules on her vocal cords. …Read more

Julio César Bravo Villata, a minor, was a beneficiary of the Guatemalan Social Security Institute.  He suffered from cerebral paralysis due to a respiratory arrest that occurred at the time of birth (a “congenital defect”) and his parents were told that once the child turned five, his treatment would be suspended. The Board of Directors …Read more

The plaintiff, Eugen Gabriel Radu, a Romanian national, applied to the European Court of Human Rights claiming that the conditions in the Romanian prison Bucarest-Jilava violated Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which prohibits torture and inhumane or degrading treatment. The plaintiff was sentenced in 2001 and again in 2006 for aggravated …Read more

The Plaintiffs, aged, blind or disabled persons and legal resident aliens of New York State, brought these proceedings against the Commissioner of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) after they became ineligible for Supplementary Security Income (SSI) from the federal government and Additional State Payments (ASP) provided by the State. …Read more

This appeal concerns whether a doctor owes a tort law duty of care to a future child subsequently born of the doctor’s patient. Dr. Ramji prescribed Accutane to Dawn Paxton, mother of the plaintiff, Jamie Paxton, on the understanding that Dawn would not become pregnant while taking the drug. Due to her husband’s failed vasectomy, …Read more

The appellant, a woman suffering from multiple sclerosis, brought a claim against New Zealand’s Ministry of Health for discrimination contrary to s. 123(2) of the Human Rights Act, 1993. She claimed that if her disability had been caused by accident rather than illness, she would have received significantly greater disability benefits from the government under …Read more

The applicant, an Icelandic national was born physically and mentally handicapped at the National and University Hospital (NUH). Linking the cause to possible mistakes on the part of the hospital staff, the applicant’s parents brought judicial proceedings on her behalf against the State of Iceland. The District Court found that the State was liable and …Read more

A minor diagnosed with progressive muscular dystrophy was denied access to a special Municipal transportation service called the ATENDE program because he was not yet using a wheelchair. The ATENDE program was instituted to meet the needs of handicapped people who could not otherwise access common public transportation. The Health Department of Sao Paulo, on …Read more