The plaintiffs are two non-profit organizations, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and the John Howard Society of Canada. The plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of sections 31-33 and 37 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA), which authorized administrative segregation of inmates in federal prisons. Section 31 provided that the purpose of administrative segregation …Read more

The applicant’s son, A.J., had a history of mental health disorders, and alcohol and substance addiction, and since 1984 had spent several periods in psychiatric hospitals. During the period in September 1999 in which A.J. was hospitalised, the doctor treating A.J. did not permit him to leave the hospital whilst he was being treated. However, …Read more

The applicant was a Romanian NGO known as the Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania-Helsinki Committee (“Association”), representing a deceased party, Ionel Garcea.  Garcea was a mentally ill prisoner who died in prison. During his sentence, he made a number of complaints about his treatment, with the Association representing him. In June …Read more

After Plaintiff Gloria Taylor was diagnosed with a terminal illness in 2009, she challenged the constitutionality of the Canadian Criminal Code Section 241(b), which prohibited assistance in dying. The trial court held that the law was unconstitutional and granted Taylor an exemption from the law. The Court of Appeal reversed, basing their decision on the …Read more

The Kings College Hospital challenged respondent C’s ability to decide to end life-saving treatment, effectively choosing to die, by alleging that she lacked mental capacity. C had attempted to commit suicide by ingesting 60 paracetamol tablets with champagne.  She made this decision shortly after undergoing  treatment for breast cancer and ending of a long term …Read more

This case concerned physician-assisted suicide in South Africa. The applicant, a 66-year-old highly educated, experienced lawyer with four children and a mother, had terminal stage 4 cancer with only a few weeks left to live and brought suit against various government ministries. He sought a declaratory order that a medical practitioner may end, or enable …Read more

The appellants, all individuals suffering from severe medical conditions, wished to die but were physically incapable of doing so themselves, due to their respective medical limitations. They could not find anyone to assist them in ending their lives; UK law criminalized assisting suicide. At issue was whether s. 2(1) of the Suicide Act 1961 (“s. …Read more

Ms. Rosel Zierd filed an application claiming that the psychiatric medication administered against her late son’s will violated her own and her late son’s Convention rights. On May 31, 2006, Ms. Zierd’s son, H, was found by the Meiningen Regional Court to have committed a number of traffic offenses, including involuntary manslaughter. The court determined …Read more

The authors, 37 Sri Lankan citizens held in Australian immigration detention facilities, alleged that the actions of the Australian government regarding their detention violated Articles 7, 9, 10, 17, 23, and 24 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the “Covenant”).   At the time of the submission, all of the authors were …Read more

A pregnant 37-year-old woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder was compulsorily detained under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983. She had been on and off medication for 8 years and had suffered both remissions and relapses, due to which she was detained at various times in Italy, France and in England where she currently …Read more