Nyakaana v. National Environment Management Authority & 6 Ors.
Country: UgandaYear: 2015
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: [2015] UGSC 14
Health Topics: Environmental health, Water, sanitation and hygiene
Human Rights: Right to a clean environment, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to property
The National Environment Management Authority (“NEMA”) demolished the petitioner’s house after serving notice that his residential property was in a wetland. He filed a Constitutional Petition in the Constitutional Court maintaining that his rights over his property and his right to a hearing and to an appeal had been violated. He claimed that Sections 67, …Read more
Bushula v. Ukhahlamba District Municipality
Country: South AfricaYear: 2012
Court: High Court of South Africa (Eastern Cape Division)
Citation: [2012] ZAECGHC 1
Health Topics: Water, sanitation and hygiene
Human Rights: Right to water and sanitation
This case was about the scope of the constitutional right of access to a water supply. The applicant was a resident of Kwa-Ngquba Locality and the respondent was a District Municipality responsible for providing water services under the Water Service Act 108 of 2017. The case of the applicant was that in 2004, the respondent …Read more
Case 2012 (Gyo-Hi) 267
Country: JapanYear: 2012
Court: Fukuoka High Court
Citation: Minshu Vol. 68, No. 6
Health Topics: Environmental health
Human Rights: Right to a clean environment
The governor of the Miyazaki Prefecture granted permission for a company that collects, transports, and disposes of industrial waste to establish an industrial waste treatment facility. When the company applied for permission, it submitted a document called the “Environmental Impact Survey Report,” which detailed the survey results regarding the impact of the establishment of the …Read more
SERAP v. Federal Republic of Nigeria
Country: NigeriaYear: 2012
Court: The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
Citation: JUDGMENT N° ECW/CCJ/JUD/18/12.
Health Topics: Diet and nutrition, Environmental health, Public safety, Water, sanitation and hygiene
Human Rights: Right to a clean environment, Right to food, Right to health, Right to water and sanitation
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), a non-governmental organization, filed a case against the Federal Republic of Nigeria alleging human rights violations as a result of the government’s failure to ensure adequate environmental protection in the Niger Delta due to oil spillage. SERAP alleged that decades of oil prospection and exploitation by private corporations …Read more
Chu Yee Wah v. Director Of Environmental Protection
Country:Year: 2011
Court: The High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Court of Appeal
Citation: [2011] HKCA 217; [2011] 5 HKLRD 469; [2012] 1 HKC 35; CACV 84/2011
Health Topics: Environmental health
Human Rights: Right to a clean environment
This case addressed the issue of whether Hong Kong’s Director of Environmental Protection (the ͞Director) had the authority to approve an environmental impact assessment (the ͞EIA) of certain proposed Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge projects (the ͞HKZMB Projects) if the EIA did not contain a quantitative stand-alone analysis of the projected environmental impact of the HKZMB Projects. …Read more
Federation for Sustainable Environment and Others v Minister of Water Affairs and Others
Country: South AfricaYear: 2011
Court: High Court of South Africa
Citation: [2012] ZAGPPHC 128 (10 July 2012).
Health Topics: Water, sanitation and hygiene
Human Rights: Right to water and sanitation
Water in Silobela, Carolina Town and Caropark neighbourhoods in the town of Carolina, South Africa was contamintaed by acid mines severaly rendering it unfit for consumption. Water tanks were brought in from neighboring towns to supply drinking water to the town’s residents, but some of the tanks were not refilled, and some were not refilled …Read more
Matsipane Mosetlhanyane, et al. v. Attorney General
Country: BotswanaYear: 2011
Court: Court of Appeal of the Republic of Botswana at Lobatse
Citation: Matsipane Mosetlhanyane & Ors v. The Attorney General [2011] CivilAppeal No. CACLB-074-10 (Bots.).
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Water, sanitation and hygiene
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to water and sanitation
Appellants, a married couple who are members of an indigenous community known as the “Basarwa,” sought reversal of a High Court decision that had denied members of the Basarwa communities a constitutional right to utilize at their own expense a borehole located within the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) for purposes of extracting and using …Read more
Medina Rodríguez, Nidia Elena et al. v. Estado Nacional et al.
Country: ArgentinaYear: 2009
Court: Supreme Court of Justice [Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación Argentina]
Citation: M. 1312. XLIII.
Health Topics: Disasters and emergencies, Environmental health, Public safety, Water, sanitation and hygiene
Human Rights: Right to a clean environment, Right to health, Right to housing, Right to life
The plaintiff filed a guarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) in the terms of articles 41 and 43 of the National Constitution and law 25.675 with the Supreme Court of Justice against the National State, the province of Buenos Aires and the municipality of Lomas de Zamora to initiate the public work …Read more
Ngobe Indigenous Communities v. Panama
Country: PanamaYear: 2009
Court: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Citation: Report No. 75/09, Petition 286-08, August 5, 2009; OEA/Ser.L/V/II., Doc. 51, corr. 1, 30 December 2009
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Chronic and noncommunicable diseases, Environmental health, Public safety, Violence, Water, sanitation and hygiene
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Freedom of association, Freedom of expression, Freedom of movement and residence, Right to a clean environment, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to participation, Right to property, Rights to the benefits of culture
In May 2007, the State of Panama, without community consultation, granted a concession for the construction of a hydroelectric dam within the traditional lands of an indigenous community, the Ngöbe. Although the construction of the dam was still in its initial stages at the time the petition was filed, the petitioner alleged that the work …Read more
Sudan Human Rights Organisation, et al. v. Sudan
Country: SudanYear: 2009
Court: African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
Citation: Comm. No. 279/03-296/05 (2009).
Health Topics: Diet and nutrition, Disasters and emergencies, Environmental health, Health care and health services, Medicines, Sexual and reproductive health, Violence, Water, sanitation and hygiene
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Freedom of movement and residence, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to health, Right to housing, Right to liberty and security of person, Right to life, Right to property
The complainants, two human rights organizations based in Sudan, the United Kingdom and Canada, alleged gross and systematic violations of human rights on the part of the Republic of Sudan and Government-supported militia forces in the Darfur region against indigenous tribes, including the Fur, Marsalit and Zaghawa. The organizations alleged that since General Omar Al-Bashir …Read more