At the time of the events involved in the case, ZH was a sixteen-year-old boy who suffered from autism and epilepsy. ZH was taken on a pool visit where he became fixated by the water. His carers and the pool staff could not touch him because he would have reacted adversely. The pool manager called …Read more

The applicant was hospitalized for mental illness four times between 1999 and 2006. The first time, the applicant received in-patient treating in a state-run hospital. In 2000, the applicant was registered as a person with potential mental problems with the Odessa Region Psychoneurological Dispensary. Three years later, the applicant was again involuntarily hospitalized. A doctor …Read more

The Centre for Addition and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Mental Health Centre Penetanguichene (MHCP)appealed an order by the Mental Disorder Court to send a person accused of sexual assault to a hospital for psychiatric treatment. The judge knew that beds for treatment would not be available until six days later. The appeal was on …Read more

The Crown alleged that the complainant, a 26-year-old woman with the mental age of a three to 6-year-old was repeatedly sexually assaulted by her mother’s partner D.A.I during the four years that he lived in their home. The Crown sought to call the complainant to testify about the alleged assaults. The trial judge found that …Read more

This case concerned an application against the Czech Republic lodged with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the Convention). The applicant alleged that he was ill-treated in a sobering-up centre in violation of Article 3 of the Convention, and …Read more

The applicant’s son was admitted as a voluntary patient as he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and there was a fear that he might commit suicide. He was kept in a crisis room in the intensive care unit. However, on the first night itself, the applicant’s son jumped out of the window and died. The applicant’s …Read more

The claimants stated that the deceased was a voluntary psychiatric patient. She was assessed by the hospital as a high risk of suicide attempt as she had done so before. The hospital allowed her home leave for two days. During that period, she committed suicide. The claimants stated that the hospital and its staff were …Read more

The applicant was a Polish national who claimed that his brother (a deceased) had been subjected to improper medical treatment at Kalisz hospital in Poland where the deceased was first examined and treated on emergency on August 26, 2007. After the first treatment, the deceased was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis on August 27, 2007. The …Read more

The applicant was a Moldovan national. He was taken to a psychiatrist hospital from his house on 25 February 2008 by police officers. In the hospital, he was placed with patients with serious mental disorders, he wasn’t given the chance to contact his lawyer or his family despite his repeated requests, and injections had been administered …Read more

Two Ukrainian nationals lodged this complaint against the Ukraine under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights (the “Convention”) in 2003. The applicants alleged that they were ill-treated by the police and that no effective investigations of the event took place. One of the applicants also alleged that he had been …Read more

This case involved an appeal from a decision made by a three-judge court that was convened by the Federal District Court to decide the appropriate remedy for violations of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The violations were the subject of two related Federal District Court cases in California: Coleman v. Brown (1990) …Read more

The Municipality of Caxias do Sul filed an extraordinary appeal against the decision of the lower court, which had found that the federal, state and municipal governments possessed joint liability to provide medications free of charge, for the treatment of serious disease, to those deemed to be financially needy, in order to abide by the …Read more

A minor child, L.C., began to be sexually abused at the age of 11 years by a 34-year-old man. Two years later, L.C. became pregnant, and in response, attempted suicide by jumping from a building. L.C. survived her suicide attempt, and she was taken to a public hospital where she was diagnosed with a series …Read more

On the basis of information from A’s family, A’s primary physician requested that A be hospitalized as soon as possible at the Buskerud hospital. A’s primary physician was told by the physician at Buskerud hospital that in order for compulsory admission to occur A had to have been examined by an independent doctor within the …Read more

The applicant is an Afghan male who in early 2008 fled war-stricken Kabul, where he claimed to have feared for his life as a result of his service as a translator for international air force troops based in that city. The applicant first entered Greece, where Greek authorities entered his fingerprints into the common European …Read more

On 24 October 2004, TM and his wife were in custody at the local police station on a public disturbance charge following an argument in the street. While in police custody, TM died, and there was a dispute of fact as to how his death occurred. The ambulance doctor who attended the scene testified that …Read more

The Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development (“CEHURD”) alleged that Uganda passed laws that were (1) degrading to mentally challenged individuals and (2) contrary to the Ugandan Constitution (“Constitution”). The factual issue at hand involved the claim that people with mental disabilities were being detained for long and indefinite periods of time without due …Read more

Mr. Hadzic and Mr. Suljic were detained in the Psychiatric Annex of Zenica Prison. Each claimed that their detention was unlawful under Article 5, section 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“Convention”), which protects the right to liberty and security of person They argued that the Annex was not an appropriate institution for …Read more

The applicant suffered from a serious bipolar disorder and wished to commit suicide and requested a lethal dose of sodium pentobarbital, which is available only on prescription, from several psychiatrists but was unsuccessful. The applicant then contacted various official bodies seeking permission to obtain the substance from a pharmacy without a prescription. The Federal Office …Read more

This claim was brought on behalf of the injured by her mother, who asserted that the failure of the Peruvian health system to ensure access to essential services for women, in this case therapeutic abortion, compromises its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, entered into force in …Read more

This case was about California’s prisons which at the time housed 156,000 prisoners, two fold of the number they were designed to house. The plaintiffs previously had brought two separate Federal actions. In 1990, one of the district courts had decided that mentally ill prisoners received inadequate medical care; in 2001, the other district court …Read more

The applicant was a Swiss national who lodged a claim before the European Court on Human Rights (the ECHR), relying on Article 8 of the European Convention on Human right (the Convention), that his right when and how to end his own life had been violated by the state. The applicant claimed to the ECHR …Read more

The plaintiff brought the case to the First Instance Court of Paraná [Juzgado de Instrucción n° 7 de Paraná] aginst the Helath Insurance Institute of Entre Ríos [Instituto de Obra Social de la Provincia de Entre Ríos – IOSPER] because it refused to provide comprehensive coverage to the autism treatment that the plaintiff’s son needed. …Read more

Zeljka Antunovic, 35 years of age, suffered from a mental illness for which she was treated involuntarily under a community treatment order issued pursuant to the Mental Health Act of 1986. She lived at the Northfolk Terrace Community Center Unit for some time before deciding she wished to return home to live with her mother. …Read more

An order for compulsory care had been made for V.M. for two years, which was extended for an additional two years under s 85 of the Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003 (“IDDCR Act”).  On appeal, the High Court found that the Family Court should not have granted the extension and quashed the …Read more

The claimant (L), a 45-year-old woman with an intellectual disability, appealed a decision by the Family Court which had ordered a 12-month extension to the compulsory care order that L was under. The care order had been initially ordered under the Intellectual Disability (Compulsory Care and Rehabilitation) Act 2003 (“IDCCR Act”) because of L’s violent …Read more

The appellant brought this appeal of a decision by the GASABO Intermediate Court that ordered his pre-trial detention for thirty days. The appellant appealed on multiple procedural grounds and also alleged that the lower court failed to properly appreciate the impact of his medical condition in determining whether pre-trial detention was appropriate. The Prosecution alleged …Read more

The Appellant, Seaton, an inmate, brought suit against the director of the California Department of Mental Health, the administrator of a state hospital, and two psychologists, alleging that they violated his constitutional right to privacy when they examined and communicated their opinions about his medical records to the district attorney’s office in the period before …Read more

The Court of Justice found that the State of Rio Grande do Sul was responsible for providing medications, free of charge, to those who need them but are unable to afford them. In accordance with in accordance with Article 196 (right to health) and 23 (state and federal governments’ obligations to provide for health and …Read more

An amparo action (appeal for legal protection) was brought against the Ministry of Social Protection by the Colombian Commission of Jurists (Comisión Colombiana de Juristas) on behalf of three women (Diana Carmenza Redondo, Argénida Torres, and María Romero), who were victims of massacres orchestrated by either paramilitaries or guerrillas, who were thereafter displaced from their communities, …Read more