The applicants had terminal cancer, and all had either tried forms of conventional medicine (e.g. surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy) or obtained a medical opinion that these treatments would not work for their illness. They then approached a private client in Sofia where they were told about an experimental anti-cancer product in development by …Read more

This case was an appeal brought by the National Monetary Fund (“FNR”, for its initials in Spanish) in a protection action before the Second Chamber of the Court of Civil Appeals. The action was brought against Resolution No. 67, which had found for the claimant, determining that coverage for the drug “NEXAVAR-DROGA SORAFENIB”, should be …Read more

Argentina’s Human Rights Ombudsman brought a claim against the National Government and the Province of Chaco to force Respondents to take the necessary measures to improve the deleterious living conditions of an indigenous community in Chaco that amounted to circumstances of extreme emergency. The Ombudsman claimed that the community lacked fundamental and basic necessities as …Read more

Plaintiff, a 61-year old woman afflicted with colon cancer, filed a counterclaim to her husband’s divorce petition, seeking compensation. The Trial judge had considered compensation for divorce a matter of welfare and had thus provided for a very small amount of reparation damages, taking into consideration only the plaintiff’s immediate needs and the defendant’s economic …Read more

The plaintiff, a Costa Rican national, presented an appeal of protection against the Ministry of Justice claiming his right to health had been violated. The plaintiff was deprived from liberty in a local prison which he claimed was overpopulated and in close contact with persons with chronic diseases. The Ministry of Justice argued that it …Read more

The defendant was the editor of the weekly magazine VSD (Vendredi, Samedi, Dimanche). In this case, VSD appealed a decision of the court of appeals in which the defendant was fined 200,000 francs by the Paris Court of Appeals on 24 February 1995 for complicity in illegal advertisement of tobacco as defined by the laws …Read more

The decision addressed three petitions with similar facts. In all three cases, the petitioners were diagnosed with cancer and prescribed a medication not included in the health services basket available under the national health care services (which was prohibitively expensive to purchase individually). By the time two of the petitions came to the Court, however, …Read more

Mrs. Porter, a 62 year old Romany gypsy, lived in a mobile home on a plot of land that she purchased in 1985. Her occupation of the site was unauthorized from the beginning. The home provided the appearance of a “permanent dwelling” but was in violation of the local Council’s planning control that did not …Read more

McGinley (M) and Egan (E) were servicemen who had been present on a Pacific island in 1958 when atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons had been carried out (five in M’s case and one in that of E). During the tests service personnel had been ordered to line-up in the open and to face away from …Read more

Prior to promulgation, the constitutionality of Articles 3, 4, 10 and 12 of the January 12, 1991 law no. 91-32, Loi relative à la lutte contre le tabagisme et l’alcoolisme (Law relating to the fight against smoking and alcoholism) was challenged in the Conseil Constitutionnel. The law, also known as the “Loi Évin” after its …Read more