This case is an appeal from the Court of Appeal’s decision of [2011] NZCA 246.  Under the Contraception, Sterlisation and Abortion Act 1997 (the Act), a woman in New Zealand is eligible for an abortion if two certifying consultants agree the pregnancy will seriously harm that woman’s physical or mental health.  The Abortion Supervisory Committee (the …Read more

This case is an appeal from the High Court. An appeal from this case was dismissed by the Supreme Court in [2012] NZSC 68. A cross-appeal was filed by the respondent, the Right to Life New Zealand Inc (RTL), which asserted the lower court erred by finding the unborn child had no right to life and …Read more

Mr. Patrick A requested the annulment of the decision of 8 February 2008 by which the National Council of the Order of Doctors declined to authorize him as a certified specialist in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery. Mr. A had been practicing baldness surgery for 28 years as a general practitioner, and had …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

A., a boy born in the Netherlands to a Nigerian immigrant mother, was diagnosed with an autistic disorder and an intellectual deficiency. As a result, A. required counseling programs as a supplement to traditional schooling by the Dutch Care Needs Assessment Centre (“CAC”). A. made a request for a residence permit under the Dutch Aliens …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 appeal concerns whether a doctor owes a tort law duty of care to a future child subsequently born of the doctor’s patient. Dr. Ramji prescribed Accutane to Dawn Paxton, mother of the plaintiff, Jamie Paxton, on the understanding that Dawn would not become pregnant while taking the drug. Due to her husband’s failed vasectomy, …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

In 2001, Peru’s Department of Health approved the emergency oral contraceptive and resolved to provide it at no charge throughout the nation. Following cases of repeated noncompliance with this resolution, plaintiffs initiated this legal action to enforce compliance. Specifically, the petitioners asserted that the mandates whose compliance they were demanding were: (1) To ensure a …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