The applicants were three Ukrainian nationals; two of them are grand parents to the third applicant whose mother (Olga Biliak) had schizophrenia, HIV and drug addiction, was convicted of robbery and detained, and died in detention in February 2004. The applicants claimed that Olga Biliak had been prosecuted because she hadn’t cooperated with police officers …Read more

This case was amended by a Judgment on Declaratory Relief and then overruled by the Court of Appeal in [2011] NZCA 246. The applicant, the Right to Life New Zealand (RTL), argued that the high rate of abortion in New Zealand indicated women were accessing “abortions on request” in contravention of the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion …Read more

The Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) filed a complaint on behalf of Mr. Esmaila Connateh and 13 other Gambians deported from Angola during March through May of 2004. IHRDA’s complaint alleged that Angola arbitrarily arrested and detained the individuals, along with tens of thousands of foreigners who had legally lived and …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

The Centro de Derechos Reproductivos (Center for Reproductive Rights) and the Centro Ecuatoriano para la Promoción y Acción de la Mujer (Center for the Advancement and Action of Women) (CEPAM-Guayaquil) alleged that the assistant principal at the public school where Paola del Rosario Guzmán Albarracín, age 16, was a student, took advantage of his position …Read more

In July 2004 CS was being treated as a detained patient at Runwell Hospital under the Mental Health Act. She absconded and went on to commit suicide by throwing herself in front of a train. A public inquest was held and concluded that the precautions in place at the hospital were inadequate. S, the daughter …Read more

Citizens’ Association “Polio Plus” (the Association) challenged provisions of the Law on Mental Health (the Law) that regulated whether or not a person with mental illness would be given the right to possess personal items, such as clothing or items for hygiene, while resident in a mental health facility. These provisions stipulated that certain persons …Read more

The Constitutional Court considered the persistence of an unconstitutional state of affairs with regard to forced displacement, which disproportionately affected women in Colombia. The Court originally declared an unconstitutional state of affairs in Ruling T-025 of 2004 and again in Resolution 218 of 2006. More than half the displaced people in Colombia  (54 per cent) …Read more

An unknown person placed an advertisement of a sexual nature on a dating website in the name of the applicant, who was 12 years old at the time, without his knowledge, mentioning private information such as his age, year of birth, physical characteristics and his telephone number, which was accurate except for one digit. In …Read more

Applicant, Mr. Dodov is a Bulgarian national. His mother, Mrs. Stoyanova, suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and disappeared from a state-owned nursing home and was never found. Efforts by applicant to bring criminal and civil proceedings against the hospital staff for negligence in causing the disappearance of his mother did not yield results. Relying on Article …Read more

On June 4, 1982 M.J.R. , a minor, accused of aggravated murder, was declared unpunishable by law by the National Criminal Examining Court of First Instance number 16, which determined he had to remain in hospital as a safety measure. On July 11, 1983, the advisor on minors filed a process of disability to the …Read more

The Mental Disability Advocacy Center (‘MDAC’) alleged that Bulgaria was violating Article 17(2) (right to free education for children) alone and in conjunction with Article E (non-discrimination) of the Revised European Social Charter (the ‘Charter’) because Bulgaria was not educating children with moderate to profound intellectual disabilities living in homes for mentally disabled children (‘HMDCs’). MDAC claimed that until 2002, children with moderate to …Read more

The applicant, Mr. Shtukaturov, was born in 1982 and first began showing signs of mental illness in 2002. In August 2002, he was held for approximately 8 months in a psychiatric hospital, receiving a diagnosis of simple schizophrenia. On August 3, 2004, Shtukaturov’s mother petitioned the Vasileostrovskiy District Court of St. Petersburg, claiming that her …Read more

In 2002, the High Court convicted C on eight counts of sexual assault, including rape, unlawful sexual connection, and other offences against the person including detaining with intent to have sexual intercourse. C was subsequently sentenced to preventive detention. C conducted his own defense during the trial. The jury addressed its concerns about the manner …Read more

The applicant was a French national and a sister to a detainee, who also was a French national and committed suicide on 20 July 2000 in his cell in Bois-d’Arcy Prison where he was placed in pre-trial detention. In April 2000, the applicant’s brother was placed under investigation and detained pending trial for the armed …Read more

The Appellant, Panetti, was convicted of capital murder in a Texas state court and sentenced to death. After the execution date was set, Panetti brought proceedings claiming that he was incompetent to be executed. The federal district court stayed Panetti’s execution in order to allow the state courts to adjudicate Panetti’s claim of mental incompetence. …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

YL was an 84-year old woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, who was entitled to free accommodation provided by the Birmingham City Council under s 21 of the National Assistance Act 1948 (the 1948 Act). The council, with the power given to it by s 26 of the same Act, contracted a private health service provider …Read more

A group of employees brought an action in negligence for damages against their employer, Chemical & Insulating Co, for exposure to asbestos in the course of their employment. The employees had been negligently exposed to asbestos and had as a consequence developed pleural plaques. This was the thickening of a layer of fibers on the …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 petitioner brought an tutela action (appeal for legal protection) against SALUDVIDA E.P.S., a health insurance company, for violation of her right to surgical abortion, seeking legal protection of her right to psychological and physical integrity and permission to have an abortion. The petitioner claimed that during the fifth month of her pregnancy, her fetus had …Read more

E.E., an adult, was in a car accident in 1992. As a result of this accident, she entered into an irreversible vegetative coma. E.E. was not clinically dead, defined as the “irreversible  cessation  of  all  encephalon  functions,” but was clinically in a permanent vegetative state (PVS). She was kept alive through force-feeding by means of …Read more

Appellant alleged she suffered a work-related injury resulting from her exposure to the toxic chemical Cyclohexanone causing dysphonia which left her virtually unable to speak for nine months and unable to work. Banco de Seguros del Estado (state insurance company) reviewed her case and found that she was not suffering from an occupational health disease …Read more

This case has been affirmed on appeal to the Supreme Court of Cassation. The Plaintiff was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998. As part of her treatment, she was prescribed hormone medication and received a mastectomy. At one point, she was prescribed Zoladex, which which causes temporary cessation of ovarian function. . Although prescribed this medication, …Read more

A Nigerian woman, applied on behalf of herself and her two children for refugee status in Ireland. The woman had arrived in Italy with her husband in 1996 and her two children were born there. The applicant’s husband was a writer and she claimed that because of her husband’s piece on a Nigerian “drug baron” …Read more

Applicant is a Slovakian national who was granted custody of her two children following her divorce from her husband. The children were allegedly ill-treated, beaten and neglected by applicant and had run away from home. They manifested fear of their mother and refused to return home. A psychologist concluded that their fear resulted from punishment …Read more

The applicant, an Icelandic national was born physically and mentally handicapped at the National and University Hospital (NUH). Linking the cause to possible mistakes on the part of the hospital staff, the applicant’s parents brought judicial proceedings on her behalf against the State of Iceland. The District Court found that the State was liable and …Read more

The applicant, a mental health patient, brought action against the Secretary of State for Health alleging violations of Articles 8 (private life), 13 (ineffective remedy) and 46.1 (failure to change law) of the European Convention on human Rights when she was without power to change or even make objections to the identity of her ’nearest …Read more