Caselaw Database - All Cases

ESCR-Net Caselaw Database: A database on domestic, regional and international decisions regarding Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Four political parties – Workers Party (PT), Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), and Sustainability Network (Rede)– sued the Brazilian government for violations of its constitutional and international obligations in regards to environmental protection. The Plaintiffs specifically alleged that the Jair Bolsonaro administration had failed to allocate and disburse funds from the Climate Fund in 2019. 

This case is a class action filed by Milieudefensie, Greenpeace NL, Fossielvrij NL, Waddenvereniging, Both ENDS, and Young Friends of the Earth NL which sued Defendant Royal Dutch Shell in the District Court of The Hague. Plaintiffs sought a ruling that RDS – parent company to Shell – must reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, and to zero by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. 

The authors, Indigenous Peoples of the Torres Strait Islands, brought a petition against Australia for violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The petitioners argued that Australia’s insufficient climate action violated their human rights, under ICCPR Articles 6 (right to life), 17 (right to private, family and home life) 24(1) (right of the child to protective measures), and 27 (right to culture). 

This case involves a request for provisional measures with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (“Court”), filed by Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), the representatives of Jesús Tranquilino Vélez Loor, pursuant to Articles 63(2) of the American Convention on Human Rights and 27(3) of the Court’s Rules of Procedure.

These two cases are part of a group of six cases involving Nigerian farmers seeking compensation for the environmental and livelihood damage they suffered as a result of oil leakages from Shell’s pipelines in the villages of Oruma, Goi, and Ikot Ada Udo.

Luis Eduardo Guachalá Chimbo, aged 23 years old at the time of his disappearance, suffered from epileptic seizures since childhood. As of January 21, 2004, he was diagnosed with with a psychosocial disability. Due to insufficient income to cover Mr. Chimbo’s and his family’s basic needs, he was unable to consistently afford the medicines needed to treat his epileptic seizures.

The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) represented Mrs. Agnes Sithole, a seventy-two-year-old woman living in KwaZulu-Natal who married Gideon Sithole in 1972 out of community of property in terms of section 22(6) of the Black Administration Act 38 of 1927 (BAA) and the Commission for Gender Equality in a challenge to the Matrimonial Property Act of 1984. Between 1972 and 1985 Mrs. Sithole worked as a housewife and ran a home-based clothing business successfully to educate her children and assist the family household expenses. After the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Sithole deteriorated, Mr.

This public interest litigation case was a response to the fire that swept through Lord Krishna Middle School in the Kumbakonam District.  Lord Krishna Middle School was private school with approximately 900 students.  A fire started in the kitchen nearby that eventually caught the thatched roof of the school building, which fell and killed 93 children inside.  When the firefighters arrived on scene, they noted that the school was severely out of code.  Municipal building codes required the school to be certified every two years, but Lord Krishna Middle School was three years delinquent and

The Plaintiff in this case is Martina Vera Rojas and her parents. Martina has Leigh Syndrome, a neurological and muscular condition that requires extensive care and treatment. Martina’s parents took out a health insurance policy with a private insurance company called Isapre MasVida that included special coverage for catastrophic illnesses and at-home treatment. In 2010, Martina was told that at-home treatment would no longer be included for chronic illnesses pursuant to a new regulation (Circular IF/No. 7), at the time, from the Superintendence of Health.

In early 2016, the Acting Superintendent-General issued a circular that demanded learners present their birth certificates to the school administration. Learners unable to submit their birth certificates would no longer receive funding. This had to effect of forcing schools to exclude undocumented children or to allow them to remain while forcing schools to spread already scarce resources. Although the circular demanded birth certificates, in practice schools also excluded non-national children where they were unable to present permits which allowed them to reside in the country.