On August 19, 2004, Mr. Veit Aurnhammer was convicted by the Regensburg Juvenile District Court of causing bodily harm and damage to property after he struck two ticket collectors in the face when they tried to prevent him from evading ticket controls. Aurnhammer was further convicted of dangerous bodily injury after attacking his sleeping cellmate …Read more

This case involves a claimant that repeatedly requested house arrest due to disability, but was denied house arrest and held in a prison he claims lacks the infrastructure necessary to maintain his right to health and dignity. Claimant was being held in pretrial detention at a prison complex. With authorization of the court, he underwent …Read more

The appellants, all individuals suffering from severe medical conditions, wished to die but were physically incapable of doing so themselves, due to their respective medical limitations. They could not find anyone to assist them in ending their lives; UK law criminalized assisting suicide. At issue was whether s. 2(1) of the Suicide Act 1961 (“s. …Read more

The plaintiff, XX, suffered from bipolar effective disorder and carried a history of self-harm. On August 19, 2012, an involuntary treatment order (hereinafter “the ITO”) was made pursuant to the Mental Health Act 1986(hereinafter “the Act”) requiring her to be detained and to receive involuntary psychiatric treatment at Monash Medical Centre. The plaintiff appealed against …Read more

The plaintiff filed a guarantee of protection of individual constitutional rights (amparo protection) against the National State [INCUCAI] that challenged the INCUCAI resolution that prohibits the autologous use of the hematopoietic stem cell originated in placental blood and umbilical cord obtained from the birth of their children. The co-plaintiff, Matercell S.A., a private cell bank where the mother …Read more

Three applicants, who were all current or former prostitutes, challenged the constitutionality of three provisions of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985. The three provisions outlawed “bawdy-houses” (also referred to as brothels), “living on the avails” (living off of a prostitutes profits), and public communication with prostitutes. Prostitution was legal in Canada, however, Parliament was allowed …Read more

The authors, 37 Sri Lankan citizens held in Australian immigration detention facilities, alleged that the actions of the Australian government regarding their detention violated Articles 7, 9, 10, 17, 23, and 24 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the “Covenant”).   At the time of the submission, all of the authors were …Read more

The authors, nine persons held in Australian immigration detention facilities, alleged violations of various articles (named below) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the “Covenant”). The authors had different backgrounds. Two were Myanmarese citizens, six were Sri Lankan citizens, and one was a Kuwaiti citizen. They all entered Australian territorial waters on …Read more

The appellant was an Indigenous resident of Palm Island in Queensland who was charged with possession of more than a prescribed quantity of liquor in a restricted area on Palm Island contrary to section 168B of the Liquor Act 1992 (Q) (“Liquor Act”). Palm Island was a “community government area” within the meaning of the …Read more

The appellant, Zhuleta Amarikyan, was compulsorily committed to inpatient psychiatric treatment on the request of the head of the psychiatric clinic. Amarikyan was diagnosed with acute delirium syndrome and was described as being a danger to herself and others and unable to control her actions. At the time of the trial of Amarikyan’s commitment, Amarikyan …Read more

Lashin, a Russian citizen, was diagnosed with schizophrenia, given a 2nd degree disability status, and hospitalised multiple times. A hospital examination concluded that Lashin was incapable of understanding the meaning of his actions and unable to control them. Following an application by the public prosecutor, the District Court of Omsk declared Lashin legally incapacitated at …Read more

Applicant, Petukhova, argued that she was deprived of her liberty when she was forced to have an involuntary examination. She alleged that this violated Article 5 § 1 (b) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“Convention”), which protects the right to liberty and security of person. In December 2005, …Read more

The Applicants were a Polish girl who was raped at the age of 14, resulting in pregnancy, and her mother. The applicants alleged that, when they sought an abortion, which is legal under Polish law for pregnancy resulting from rape, hospital staff attempted to dissuade the girl from having an abortion. At one hospital, she …Read more

The plaintiffs brought a case before the British Columbia Supreme Court following the 2006-2007 decision by the Ministry of Public Safety to cancel the Mother Baby Program at the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women, a women’s prison. This program had allowed incarcerated mothers and their babies to live at the institution together, subject to the …Read more

As a result of his alleged non-disclosure of his HIV-positive status to 3 complainants prior to engaging in sexual relations, the appellant (defendant), Lester Felix, was convicted of five counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of sexual assault. Felix appealed all convictions. There was no evidence of the appellant’s level of risk of …Read more

The Applicant Barilo, long-afflicted by diabetes mellitus and other chronic illnesses was detained by the Government of Ukraine. She alleged that she was deprived of her liberty in contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly Articles 3, 5, and 13. In June 2006, Barilo was arrested on charges instituted three days earlier by …Read more

The applicant was a Somalian who irregularly entered the Republic of Malta where she applied for an asylum on 18 February 2009. Following the rejection of her application, she escaped from the detention center in Malta and irregularly entered the Netherlands in May 2009. On 11 February 2011, the applicant was returned to Malta and …Read more

While incarcerated in congested prison with poor hygienic conditions, Dudley Lee was infected with tuberculosis (TB).  The responsible prison authorities were aware of the risk of the inmates’ contracting TB, but did not have a comprehensive system in place to reduce the risk of infection. Rather, the prison authorities relied on a system of inmates …Read more

After significant political struggles, the US Congress enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010. This act had two components, 1) it obligated individuals to maintain “‘minimum essential’ health insurance coverage” through an individual mandate, 2) it contained an expansion of the federal Medicaid program that is run by US states. The constitutionality …Read more

Milan Sykora, a Czech national, suffered from a psycho-social disability and did not take his medication because he claimed it negatively affected his eyesight. In November 2000 the Brno Municipal Court deprived Sykora of his capacity to make legal decisions after he failed to collect his pension for four years. The decision was made based …Read more

The Applicant, a UK citizen born in 1947, alleged that the seclusion policy (“Policy”) of Ashworth Special Hospital (“Ashworth”), the maximum security hospital where he was committed for a mental illness, violated the European Convention on Human Rights. After several instances of incarceration and hospitalization on account of various mental health issues, the applicant was …Read more

This case concerned the Kichwa nation of the Ecuadorian Amazon, which encompassed two Peoples who shared the same linguistic and cultural tradition. The State of Ecuador had granted a private oil company a permit to carry out oil exploration and exploitation of activities in the ancestral territory of the Kichwa nation. The State did not …Read more

This case deals with the destruction of the Mayan community of Río Negro by a series of massacres perpetrated by the Guatemalan army and members of the civil self-defence patrols in 1980 and 1982 which, according to the IACmHR, included the persecution and elimination of members of the Mayan community, subsequent violations directed against the …Read more

On 9 August 1995, B, a Libyan citizen, was arrested by the Libyan Internal Security Agency and held in secret detention at Abu Slim prison. In September 2000, B’s relatives were informed that B was alive and allowed to visit him in prison. During those visits, B told his relatives he had been regularly tortured …Read more

S, an adult male diagnosed with schizophrenia, lived for many years with his half-sister and step-mother, his closest living relatives, before they applied in 2000 to the Ruse Regional Court to have S declared legally incapacitated. The court declared S only partially incapacitated. S’s family refused to accept guardianship for S, and the court instead …Read more

On 28 October 1997, JC (a military officer) was arrested by Zambian police for an attempted coup d’état. He was severely tortured and charged with treason. While being tortured, he was forced to sign false confessions and to implicate other military officials. Because of the torture, he was hospitalized at various times. On 31 October …Read more

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