Caselaw Database - All Cases

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

Free Legal Assistance Group and Others v. Zaire, Comm. No. 25/89, 47/90, 56/91, 100/93

The claims brought by four NGOs against former Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) alleging a gross mismanagement of public finances by the government leading to degrading conditions, shortages of medicine, education and basic services. The government allegedly failed to provide these services impairing its people from obtaining adequate medical treatment and from accessing basic education.

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López Ostra vs. Spain (Application no. 16798/90)

On May 14, 1990, Gregoria López Ostra filed a report before the European Commission on Human Rights against the Spanish State. She claimed that the State’s failure to take any measures against the smell, noise and contaminating smokes originated in a solid and liquid waste treatment plant located a few meters away from her home violated her rights to physical integrity (Article 3 of European Convention on Human Rights) and to respect for the home and private life (Article 8 of the Convention).

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Soobramoney v. Minister of Health (Kwazulu-Natal)

The claimant, Thiagraj Soobramoney, suffered from chronic renal failure (among other diseases) and was in dire need of renal dialysis in order to stave off death. When he ran out of personal funds with which to pay private providers, he sought service in Addington Hospital, a state-funded hospital in Durban. The hospital refused Soobramoney treatment because his general physical condition did not qualify him for treatment under the criteria or guidelines used by the hospital to determine eligibility for such treatments.

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Acción de tutela instaurada por Abel Antonio Jaramillo, Adela Polanía Montaño, Agripina María Nuñez y otros contra la Red de Solidaridad Social, el Departamento Administrativo de la Presidencia de la República, el Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito P

The claimants filed a tutela action against several state institutions alleging failure to comply with their mission of protecting displaced persons and to effectively respond to the displaced’s requests related to housing, access to production projects, health care, education and humanitarian aid.

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Asociación de Comunidades Aborígenes Lhaka Honhat. Caso Nº 12.094. [ENG]

In 1998, the Aboriginal Communities Association Lhaka Honat filed an action with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) against the State of Argentina. The communities living in Salta province denounced violations of their right to ancestral land, to cultural integrity and to a safe environment, following the State’s decision to build an international bridge and carry out an urban development plan in their territory, which would significantly alter their way of life.

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Viceconte, Mariela c. Estado Nacional (Ministerio de Salud y Ministerio de Economía de la Nación) s/ Acción de Amparo. [ENG]

Mariela Viceconte filed a collective amparo action seeking to force the Argentine State to produce the Candid 1 vaccine. Her case was based on her own right to health and that of other persons exposed to contracting “Argentine Hemorrhagic Fever,” including in Argentina approximately 3.5 million people. The action specifically alleged a violation of the obligation to prevent, treat and fight epidemic and endemic diseases arising from article 12.2.c) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

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Case of the Street Children ”(Villagrán-Morales et al.) v. Guatemala

A petition was filed with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) against the State of Guatemala alleging the kidnapping, torture and death of four minors and the murder of a fifth one in 1990, in the city of Guatemala, by members of the security forces, and the State's failure to provide adequate judicial protection to the victims' families.

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Jorge Odir Miranda Cortéz. Caso Nº 12.249. Informe de admisibilidad Nº 29/01. [ENG]

On January 24, 2000, a petition was filed against the State of El Salvador before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) alleging violation of the rights to life, health and full development of personality of a group of persons living with HIV.  The case was grounded on the State's failure to provide them with the triple therapy medication needed to prevent them from dying and to improve their quality of life.  The petitioners also claimed that the situation of the said persons constituted an instance of cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.

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People living with HIV [ENG]

The Chilean Health Ministry issued a decree ordering free medical treatment and tests for all sexually transmitted diseases, including the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). However, the decree was not complied with in the case of HIV. Given this situation, the organization Vivo Positivo, sponsored by Clínica de Acciones de Interés Público de la Universidad Diego Portales, filed three amparo actions requesting the East Metropolitan Health Service and the Health Ministry to comply with the decree.

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Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores del Ministerio de Salud de Ecuador. [ENG]

Centro de Derechos Económicos y Sociales (CDES), on behalf of the General Secretary of Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores del Ministerio de Salud [National Union of Health Ministry Workers] and the workers represented by the union, filed a report with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) against the State of Ecuador.

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