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Caselaw Database

This is a database of positive domestic, regional and international legal decisions from around the world regarding economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights (ESCER). These case summaries provide greater awareness about ESCER issues globally, effective litigation strategies, progressive jurisprudence, and enforcement efforts. Our case summaries are available in English and Spanish, with more recent entries also available in French and Arabic. 

The caselaw database is made possible by the support of ESCR-Net members, many of whom have contributed or reviewed cases, as well as several allies. ESCR-Net expresses its special appreciation to the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy at Northeastern University (PHRGE), which provides ongoing support to the case database. To suggest additional cases for inclusion, contact Felipe Mesel, Strategic Litigation Working Group Program Coordinator, at fmesel@escr-net.org.

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09/28/2006
Case Law | Cultural Rights
The Yakye Axa community, a Paraguayan indigenous community belonging to the Lengua Enxet Sur people, filed a complaint with the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) alleging Paraguay had failed to acknowledge its right to property over ancestral land. Given its impossibility to solve the case, the Commission referred it...
09/25/2006
The Mayagna Awas (Sumo) Tingni Community lives in the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua and is made up of approximately 142 families. Jaime Castillo Felipe, a leader of the community, lodged a petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) denouncing the State of Nicaragua for failing to demarcate the...
09/20/2006
400 people who had been evicted from adjacent municipal land settled on the private Modderklip farm in 2000. In April 2001 an eviction order was issued, but the occupiers had no place to go and failed to comply.  The numbers of occupiers continued to increase and the sheriff demanded a...
01/22/2004