This case concerned the impact of Hungary’s constitutional guarantee of the right to life on its parliament’s ability to pass abortion laws. Petitioners submitted that Hungary’s Act LXXIX/1992 on the Protection of Foetal Life (“the Act”), regarding permissible abortion, was unconstitutional. The Act allowed a pregnant woman to have an abortion if she was “in …Read more

Mr. L was a mentally retarded person who was incapable of consenting to medical treatment. From the age of 13, he had been a resident at the Bournewood Hospital which was governed by the appellant, NHS Trust. Mr. L was discharged from the hospital on a trial basis into the community with paid carers, though …Read more

M, a medical practitioner in private practice, had his property searched pursuant to section 28(1) of the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act, which empowered inspectors appointed by the respondent Interim National Medical and Dental Council of South Africa (“Council”) to search any premise, place, vehicle, vessel or aircraft where there was a reasonable suspicion …Read more

The national association for the ethics of liberal medicine (l’Association nationale pour l’éthique de la médecine libérale) requests the annulment of Articles 6, 11, 17, 19 and 20 of the Ordinance of 24 April 1996 on the medical control of health spending using an adjustment mechanism for medical expenses. Articles 17, 19 and 20 institute …Read more

The professional Union of Belgian and International Insurance Companies (“UPEA”) introduced a request to annul articles 24, 4, and 25 (the “impugned provisions”) of the law dated December 20, 1995 (the “contested law”), which pertained to mandatory healthcare and indemnity insurance. UPEA asserted that article 24, 4, of the contested law conferred to certain physician …Read more

The case combined six writs of tutela that were filed against the Institute of Social Security (ISS) into one record. The Plaintiffs were persons living with HIV who had not been able to obtain protease inhibitors to treat their HIV. The protease inhibitors sought by the Plaintiffs were antiretrovirals used in the treatment of HIV …Read more

Three doctors challenged the Medical Services Commission of British Columbia’s (“the Commission’s”) variable fee-for-service rates, which were based on province of residence and physician seniority. In 1994, the Commission enacted interim measures under which new billers (medical practitioners who applied to the Commission after February 11, 1994) were issued restricted billing numbers. New billers were …Read more

Under the Wash. Rev. Code §9A36.060 (1) it was a crime to cause or aid another person to commit suicide. In 1996, a lower court struck down this law on the basis it violated an individual’s constitutionally protected right to choose the time and manner of death. The petitioners, the State of Washington and its …Read more

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