The European Communities and their member States challenged Sections 55.2(1) and 55.2(2) of the Patent Act of Canada, which created exceptions to the exclusive rights of patent owners, as violating provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (“TRIPS” or “TRIPS Agreement”). Under Article 28.1 of the TRIPS Agreement, parties were to ensure patent owners the …Read more

D.K. Joshi, the Appellant, had filed a public interest litigation in the Allahabad High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India (original writ jurisdiction of High Courts) seeking directions against unauthorized and unregistered doctors in Agra, Uttar Pradesh (U.P.). The petition was dismissed on the ground that an enquiry should first be completed …Read more

Dina Rosa Vieira brought the case against the municipality of Porto Alegre for failing to provide medication for the treatment of AIDS. Vieira was destitute and unable to afford the medication herself. The first instance court ruled in favor of Vieira and ruled that in light of the constitutional principles protecting the right to health …Read more

The complainant alleged that Nigerian security agents arbitrarily arrested his client, Mr. Ayodele Ameen, as a result of Mr. Ameen’s political activism in support of validating the country’s 12 June 1994 elections, which the Nigerian military government had previously annulled. While in prison, the complainant claimed that Nigerian security officials tortured Mr. Ameen, subjected him …Read more

The Petitioner sought to appeal an earlier order of the Supreme Court requiring that seized drugs be returned. In that case, the Court had declared a search warrant invalid for failing to meet constitutional requirements, and required the Petitioner to return the drugs seized in a contraband raid. The drugs had been found genuine upon …Read more

Terrance Parker suffered from severe epilepsy since he was a young child. He could substantially reduce the incidence of seizures by smoking marihuana, but he had no legal source of marihuana. Parker was charged with cultivating marihuana under the Narcotic Control Act and with possession of marihuana under the new Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. …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

Jahnabi Goswami Sharma was the wife of an “AIDS patient.” Her “miserable plight” prompted the Petitioner, Subodh Sharma, an independent social activist, to file a public interest litigation on behalf of people living with HIV and members of their family in the Gauhati High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India (original writ jurisdiction …Read more

The petitioners were a group of persons living with HIV. They filed a writ of amparo against Venezuela’s Ministry of Health and Social Assistance (the Ministry). The Petitioners asked the Court to enjoin the Ministry to provide, free of charge: (1) the regular and periodic delivery of antiretroviral drugs and medication for opportunistic diseases; (2) …Read more

In 1991, representatives of the indigenous Enxet-Lamenxay and Kayleyphapopyet-Riachito communities commenced administrative proceedings against the Government of Paraguay to recover what they claimed was ancestral land that Paraguay had largely sold to foreigners in the years between 1885 and 1950. The petitioners described the land as “their main sustenance came from hunting, fishing, and gathering.” The …Read more