Sell v. United States
Country: United StatesYear: 2003
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: 539 U.S. 166 (2003)
Health Topics: Informed consent, Mental health
Human Rights: Right to bodily integrity, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person
Petitioner, Sell, had a long history of mental illness. In 1998, a federal grand jury issued an indictment charging Sell with attempting to murder an FBI agent who had arrested him in connection with a separate charge of mail fraud and a former employee who planned to testify against him in the upcoming fraud case. …Read more
Van Kück v. Germany
Country: GermanyYear: 2003
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 35968/97; (2003) 37 EHRR 51
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Health systems and financing, Mental health, Sexual and reproductive health
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial, Right to privacy
The applicant was registered as a male at birth. In 1991, The District Court granted the applicant’s request to change her forenames to Carola Brenda after hearing from several psychiatric and psychological experts who determined that the applicant was a male-to-female transsexual and had been for the last three years living as a female. In …Read more
Atkins v. Virginia
Country: United StatesYear: 2002
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: 536 U.S. 304 (2002)
Health Topics: Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to due process/fair trial
The Appellant, Atkins, a mentally disabled individual, was convicted of capital murder and related crimes by a Virginia jury and sentenced to death. He brought this appeal alleging that he could not be sentenced to death because executing the mentally disabled would constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” as prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.
Benjamin & Wilson v. United Kingdom
Country: United KingdomYear: 2002
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 28212/95
Health Topics: Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person
B and W were detained in hospital after being sentenced to terms of discretionary life imprisonment. Both complained that they did not have access to a procedure by which they could challenge the lawfulness of their continued detention. B was sentenced to life imprisonment for rape in 1983. His tariff period of detention was set …Read more
C. v. Australia
Country: AustraliaYear: 2002
Court: United Nations Human Rights Committee
Citation: U.N. H.R. Comm., U.N. Doc. CCPR/76/D/900/1999 (Nov. 13, 2002).
Health Topics: Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person
Petitioner claimed a breach of Article 7 (freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment) and Article 9, particularly Article 9(1) (right to liberty and security of person) and Article 9(4) (a person deprived of liberty’s right to fair trial) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) when he was …Read more
P, C, & S v. United Kingdom
Country: United KingdomYear: 2002
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 56547/00
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Mental health
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial, Right to family life
P was a U.S. citizen and C was her British husband. Their daughter, S, was born in 1998 in the UK. In 1985, P had given birth to a son B in the US. In 1994, the California authorities took B into protective custody, alleging that P was harming B by administering laxatives to him …Read more
Anderson and Ors. v. Scottish Ministers and Anr.
Country: United KingdomYear: 2001
Court: Privy Council
Citation: [2001] UKPC D5
Health Topics: Mental health, Public safety
Human Rights: Right to due process/fair trial, Right to liberty and security of person
The three applicants were mental patients held in state hospitals who had been convicted of homicide. At the time of their convictions, the medical view was that all psychiatric conditions were treatable to an extent. However, relevant medical knowledge had moved on, and medical advice was now that the conditions of the three applicants were …Read more
Bensaid v. United Kingdom
Country: United KingdomYear: 2001
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 44599/98; (2001) 33 EHRR 10; [2001] ECHR 82; [2001] MHLR 287; [2001] INLR 325; 11 BHRC 297
Health Topics: Mental health
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Freedom of movement and residence, Right to family life
Bensaid brought an action against the United Kingdom as a result of a proposed deportation order to Algeria. Bensaid was a schizophrenic suffering from a psychotic illness. He had arrived in the United Kingdom from Algeria in 1989 and had been granted indefinite leave to remain after marrying a United Kingdom citizen. This leave lapsed …Read more
K. and T. v. Finland
Country: FinlandYear: 2001
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: Application No. 25702/94; (2003) 36 EHRR 18; [2000] ECHR 173
Health Topics: Child and adolescent health, Hospitals, Mental health
Human Rights: Right to family life
Applicants were two Finnish Nationals, a mother (K.) and her cohabitant (T.). K., a diagnosed schizophrenic, had a history of hospitalization. At the time K. and T. began cohabitating in 1991, K.’s daughter (P.) and son (M.) were living with her. The children had different fathers, neither of whom was T. In 1992, custody of …Read more
Keenan v. United Kingdom
Country: United KingdomYear: 2001
Court: European Court of Human Rights
Citation: App. No. 27229/95, 33 Eur. H.R. Rep. 913 (2001).
Health Topics: Health care and health services, Health systems and financing, Medical malpractice, Medicines, Mental health, Prisons
Human Rights: Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Freedom of movement and residence, Right to bodily integrity, Right to due process/fair trial, Right to life
The applicant brought an action on behalf of her mentally ill son, Mark Keenan, who killed himself in prison, alleging the State was in violation of Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (prohibition of torture) and 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the European Convention. The applicant alleged that her son, who was known …Read more