The Court of Hungary received several petitions regarding the right of patients suffering from terminal illnesses to end their lives with dignity and consolidated the petitions into a single judgment. One petition asked the Court to declare unconstitutional and annul the last sentence in Section 43, paragraph (2) of Act II of 1972 on Healthcare. …Read more

This case was brought by the Public Advocate of Victoria as limited guardian of BWV, a woman aged 68 years, suffering from a fatal form of dementia (most likely Pick’s disease). At the time of bringing the case, BWV had not appeared conscious, nor had she had any cortical activity for approximately three years. Evidence …Read more

H, a young woman who suffered from Down’s syndrome and was severely mentally disabled, lived with her mother, BL, who was deeply distrustful of the health authorities. When her BL fell ill and H’s behaviour became increasingly disturbed H was formally admitted to hospital for assessment under section 2 (allowing mandatory commitment for mentally ill …Read more

Petitioner, Sell, had a long history of mental illness. In 1998, a federal grand jury issued an indictment charging Sell with attempting to murder an FBI agent who had arrested him in connection with a separate charge of mail fraud and a former employee who planned to testify against him in the upcoming fraud case. …Read more

The respondent Starson was a physicist who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had intermittently received treatment in various mental institutions in the United States and Canada. Historically, he had used medication to regulate the condition. However, the side effects dulled Starson’s mind, and he refused further treatment, despite being informed his condition would deteriorate …Read more

YF was a Turkish national. On 15 October 1993, he was taken into custody on suspicion of aiding and abetting the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), an illegal terrorist organization. Two days later, his wife, NF, was also taken into custody. NF was held in custody for four days, during which time she was allegedly kept …Read more

The Plaintiffs Zhen Xuefeng and Chen Guoqing were a married couple seeking a fertility treatment. They signed a contract regarding such assisted reproduction with defendant People’s hospital of Jiangsu Province (“People’s hospital”). The contract did not specify which of two fertilization techniques (Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (“ICSI”) or In Vitro Fertilization (“IVF”)) would be used, however …Read more

A doctor, Y, was treating Mrs. X during her pregnancy. Y suspected a breech presentation (buttocks- or feet-first presentation rather than the normal head-first presentation) during the 8th month of pregnancy. The mother wanted a home birth. On 12 January, the child was born in a home birth and as a result of inadequate medical …Read more

The plaintiff’s husband was hospitalized due to severe renal failure. Conscious of his severe state of health, the husband wrote a statement ten days later stating that, as a Jehovah’s Witness, he refused to get any blood products or transfusions, even if there were essential to his survival. The doctors gave him a blood transfusion …Read more

Before the promulgation of the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Act, 78 senators made a referral to the French constitutional court challenging the constitutionality of the new bill according to article 61 of the French Constitution. The Act had three components. It extended to 12 weeks the period of time a woman could have an abortion …Read more