In order to regulate the distribution of licenses for liquor shops the Government of West Bengal promulgated the West Bengal Excise (Selection of New Sites and grant of License for retail sale of liquor and certain other intoxicant) Rules, 2003 (the new Rules). Under the earlier Rules, objections were invited from elected representatives from the …Read more

The applicant was a United Kingdom national imprisoned at H.M. Prison Whitemoor who complained that the Government’s failure to provide needle exchange programs in prisons violated the rights of prisoners under Article 2 (respect for the right to life), Article 3 (prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment), Article 8 (respect for …Read more

The petitioner sued the Bolivian State (“the State”) for numerous violations regarding her treatment in prison. The present case is deciding whether this petition is admissible before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (“the Commission”). There is disagreement between the parties as to the facts. Marcela Alejandra Porco, an Argentine citizen, was detained in the …Read more

This report addresses the admissibility of a petition that alleged the United States failed to fulfill its obligations under the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man (the Declaration). Petitioners included the Legal Aid Society and the International Human Rights Clinic at Washington College of Law. Petitioners alleged the United States violated the …Read more

Circular No. 03-2006 of the Municipality of Oreamuno designated an area within the public building to serve as a smoking room in accordance with Law N°7501 (1995), which provided for such spaces. The designated area was the aisle leading to the kitchen. Petitioner sought relief from the alleged violation of her right to health as …Read more

Petitioners, among them the Federación Venezolana de Asociaciones de Consumidores y Usuarios (F.E.V.A.C.U) (Venezuelan Federation of Consumer and User Associations), filed an an “action for collective and common interests” against the government, seeking judicial protection for the violation of their right as a society to an enjoyable life and a balanced, safe, and healthy environment. …Read more

The Criminal Court of Dendermonde in the Flemish Region of Belgium posed two interlocutory questions to the Belgian Constitutional Court regarding the constitutionality of Article 44 of a 1991 decree of the Flemish government relating to the practice of sport in compliance with health standards  As per Article 2 of the 1921 law concerning the …Read more

Mr. Khudobin, a Russian national, filed an application against the Russian Government for allegedly violating several articles of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”). The applicant was arrested after he was caught supplying heroin to an undercover police agent. He was placed in custody during pre-trial investigations and …Read more

KR was an Iraqi Kurd. He was a lieutenant in the state police under Saddam Hussein’s regime but acted as an informer for the separatist PUK movement. In 1987 his clandestine activity was suspected. He was detained and tortured but the following year was released and resumed work as a police officer. In 1991 he …Read more

The state of Oregon legalized a physician-assisted suicide law. This law exempts state-licensed physicians who “dispense or prescribe a lethal dose of drugs upon the request of a terminally ill patient” from civil or criminal liability. The law required that the patient must have a diagnosis of an incurable and irreversible disease that reasonably will cause …Read more

Jalloh brought an action before the European Court of Human Rights (the Court), arguing that the administration of emetics by force by German officials had constituted a serious interference with his physical integrity and posed a serious threat to his health and life. Jalloh was a suspected drug dealer who was arrested by the police …Read more

The Petitioner, Stamen Filipov, challenged Article 178, a provision regulating solitary confinement, of the Law on Execution of Sanctions (the Law). The Law gave the Director of a prison or his/her substitute the power to institute certain disciplinary measures against convicted persons, including warnings, public warnings, confiscation of up to 20% of the compensation for …Read more

Petitioner filed a Writ of Amparo to challenge the administrative procedure that instituted a partial ban on cigar and cigarette advertisements pursuant Article 9 of Costa Rica’s Tobacco Regulation Act. Petitioner claimed such a partial ban was constitutionally unacceptable, as only a total ban on advertisement could fulfill the obligation of the State to safeguard …Read more

Petitioner was an inmate in a State prison who filed a Writ of Amparo challenging the administrative regulation that exempted inmates from the prohibition to smoke inside cells and other closed, indoor environments within prisons. In his submission, plaintiff contended the regulation (of infra-legal hierarchy status) was unconstitutional as it forcibly exposed him to tobacco …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 applicant, a private citizen of Ukraine, was convicted in the Vinnytsia District Court for the unlawful possession of a quantity of opium with the premeditated intent to sell along with a group of persons. The District Court sentenced the applicant to five years imprisonment. During the trial, the applicant had refused the representation of …Read more

The Applicant was an HIV-positive man who had sex with men. He had transmitted HIV to another, younger man through a sexual encounter prior to his diagnosis. He was subsequently instructed by the county medical officer, among other things, not to have sexual intercourse without first disclosing to his partner that he was HIV-positive, to …Read more

J.V. filed an action in the Belgian Constitutional Court to annul article 40.6, line 2, of the Flemish Parliament’s Act of 1991 on the practice of sport with respect to health imperatives. He stated that the impugned provision that required the publication of details on a government website such as the name, date of birth …Read more

Petitioner, Televisión Azteca S.A, filed a Writ of Amparo challenging the constitutionality of article 308, section VI of the Public Health Law (broadcasting tobacco advertisements), alleging that it violated the right to work. The section under scrutiny regulates alcoholic beverages and tobacco advertisements prohibiting the real or apparent ingestion or consumption of these products. In …Read more

Nine inmates died from a fire at juvenile detention center “Colonel Panchito López” Juvenile Reeducation Institute (Center), one inmate died from a bullet wound sustained at the Center, and 37 inmates sustained injuries and smoke inhalation from three fires at the Center. The Center was under the authority of the Ministry of Justice and Labor …Read more

Five petitions brought separate challenges to Act IV of 1978 on the Hungarian Criminal Code (“Act”) related to the misuse of narcotic drugs. They argued that the Parliament had failed to ensure the exercise of the right to self-determination when it ordered the punishment of the production and cultivation of a small amount of narcotic …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

Petitioners challenged the constitutionality of Article 9 of Costa Rica’s tobacco regulation act, which provided for a partial ban on cigar and cigarette advertisement. In their submission, petitioners claimed the constitutional standard to safeguard the right to health, to life and to a clean environment could not be appropriately fulfilled by such a partial ban, …Read more

The applicant, a father of three young children, claimed a violation of his right to respect for his private and family life and home under Article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Convention), when Finnish authorities placed his children in public care in response to allegations of …Read more

Applicants, family members of an individual addicted to heroin who died in prison, alleged that the State violated Articles 3 (freedom from torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment) and 13 (right to effective remedy) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) because the prisoner, Ms. …Read more

M described himself as a “marijuana/freedom activist” helping to operate a co-operative, non-profit association seeking to minimize the harm caused by marijuana use. The police raided the organisation’s premises and seized 300 grams of marijuana. M was charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking pursuant to section 4(2) Narcotics Control Act 1985 …Read more

Petitioners were former patients who received obstetrical care at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), a public hospital in the city of Charleston, and who were arrested after testing positive for cocaine. In 1988, concerns arose among MUSC staff about an apparent increase in the use of cocaine by patients who were receiving prenatal …Read more

The Respondent, Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative (Cooperative), was a not-for-profit medical cannabis dispensary established after California voters enacted a measure that created “an exception to California laws” that prohibited “the possession and cultivation of marijuana.” The Cooperative had a physician as its medical director, registered nurses as staff during business hours, and dispensed marijuana to …Read more

Hospital Británico de Buenos Aires, a private health service provider, filled a guarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) against the Federal State requiring the judiciary to declare that the National Act 24.754 was contrary to articles 14, 17, 28 and 33 of the National Constitution. The law obliged private health service providers …Read more

The applicant was an inmate of Warkworth prison and a long time heroin addict. While an inmate, the applicant sought to overcome this addiction. The Correctional Service of Canada had a 2-phase program to address addiction cases.  Phase I provided regular doses of methadone “only to those entering federal prison… already enrolled in a community …Read more