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

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Ms. L. R. et al v Slovakia. Cited as: Communication No.31/2003, CERD / C / 66 / D / 31 / 2003

The case concerned a resolution adopted by the Dobšiná municipal council, under pressure from right‑wing anti‑Roma groups, to cancel a previous resolution in which the council had approved a plan to construct low‑cost social housing for Roma inhabitants living in very poor conditions. The petitioners contended, amongst other things, that the State party had failed to safeguard their right to adequate housing, thereby violating Article 5(e)(iii) of the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

Olga Tellis & Ors v Bombay Municipal Council [1985] 2 Supp SCR 51.

In 1981, the State of Maharashta and the Bombay Municipal Council decided to evict all pavement and slum dwellers from the city of Bombay. The residents claimed such action would violate the right to life, since a home in the city allowed them to attain a livelihood and demanded that adequate resettlement be provided if the evictions proceeded. The Court declined to provide the remedies requested by the applicants but found that the right to a hearing had been violated at the time of the planned eviction.

People's Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India & Ors, In the Supreme Court of India, Civil Original Jurisdiction, Writ Petition (Civil) No.196 of 2001

Starvation deaths had occurred in the state of Rajasthan, despite excess grain being kept for official times of famine, and various schemes throughout India for food distribution were also not functioning. In 2001, the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) petitioned the court for enforcement of both the food schemes and the Famine Code, a code permitting the release of grain stocks in times of famine. They grounded their arguments on the right to food, deriving it from the right to life.

V. v. Einwohnergemeinde X. und Regierungsrat des Kantons Bern (BGE/ATF 121 I 367) Swiss Federal Court

Three brothers (V) lived in Switzerland from 1980 as recognised refugees. In 1987, they were expelled from Switzerland to Czechoslovakia for criminal offences. In September 1991, they illegally re-entered Switzerland.

Bhe v. Magistrate Khayelitsha & Ors. 2005 (1) BCLR 1 (CC), 15 Oct. 2004

The Bhe judgment concerned three related cases (Bhe, SAHRC and Shibi), which were decided together. In the first action, the father of applicants, Nonkuleleko and Anelisa Bhe (aged 9 and 2), had died, and the mother (the third applicant) brought an action to secure the deceased's property for her daughters. Under the African customary law rule of primogeniture as well as section 23 of the Black Administration Act, the house became the property of the eldest male relative of the father, in this case the grandfather.

Campaign for Fiscal Equity et al. v. State of New York et al. 719 N.Y.S.2d 475

In 1993, the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, as well as several students and their parents, filed a complaint asserting that New York State's educational financing scheme, in violation of the state Constitution, fails to provide public school students in New York City, an opportunity to obtain a sound basic education. Gross underfunding of schools had allegedly led to a scarcity of basic resources, as well as low test scores and graduation rates.

Case No. 2000-08-0109 Constitutional Court of Latvia (On Compliance of Item 1 of the Transitional Provisions of the Law On Social Insurance with Articles 1 and 109 of the Satversme (Constitution) of the Republic of Latvia and Articles 9 and 11 (the

Twenty deputies of the Latvian Parliament (the Saeima) claimed that certain employers were not paying social insurance premiums into a fund for their employees. The deputies asserted a breach of the constitutional right to social security and Articles 9 and 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) since the State had failed to ensure the relevant legislation ensured that premiums were paid by employers.

Enxet-Lamenxay and Kayleyphapopyet (Riachito). Case Nº 11.713. Report No. 90/999. [ENG]

Representatives of the Lamenxay and Kayleyphapopyet indigenous communities, both of the Enxet-Sanapana people, started proceedings aimed at recovering their ancestral land, which had been sold by the Paraguayan State to private persons. After five years of the State's failure to comply with a court decision acknowledging the constitutional land right of one of the communities, in 1996 a petition was filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights against the State of Paraguay.

Callahan v. Carey, No. 79-42582 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. County, Cot. 18, 1979)

Callahan was a class-action suit on behalf of homeless men in the Bowery area of Manhattan seeking a temporary mandatory injunction requiring the City of New York to provide shelter to homeless men.

Eldridge v. British Columbia (Attorney General) [1997] 3 S.C.R. 624

In 1990 the non-profit agency that had provided sign language interpreter services in the lower mainland of British Columbia began experiencing serious financial difficulties and sought funding through officials at the Ministry of Health. It was turned down.