The Court of Appeal for Ontario has upheld a lower court's decision to dismiss an application for judicial review of the Law Society of Upper Canada's (LSUC) decision to refuse accreditation to an evangelical Christian law school. The Court reviewed the LSUC's decision by reference to the standard of reasonableness and held that, in making its decision, the LSUC reasonably balanced the appellants' rights to religious freedom against its statutory objective of protecting the 'public interest'.

United States v Texas 579 U. S. ____ (2016)The United States Supreme Court made a four-four split decision in a nine word judgement over the legality of President Obama’s deferred action immigration program. This upholds the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit's decision to maintain a nationwide injunction preventing implementation of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program (DAPA) and the expansion of the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).

Case of Al-Dulimi and Montana Management Inc v Switzerland (Application no. 5809/08) (21 June 2016) The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has delivered another decision in the long line of cases dealing with the relationship between sanctions by the United Nations Security Council (UN Security Council), and international human rights. By 15 votes to 2, the Grand Chamber found that Swiss courts did not provide meaningful judicial review of the applicant’s sanctions listings by the Sanctions Committee of the Security Council (Sanctions Committee). It therefore found a violation of Article 6(1) of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).  In doing so the Grand Chamber upheld the presumption, highlighted in previous cases that Security Council sanctions are to be interpreted on the basis that they are compatible with international human rights.

Utah v Strieff  357 P. 3d 532 (2016)The US Supreme Court has held that drugs and drug paraphernalia found after an unconstitutional stop were admissible because of an outstanding arrest warrant against the accused.

Mellet v Ireland (Views adopted by the Committee under article 5(4) of the Optional Protocol, concerning communication No. 2324/2013)In March 2016, the Human Rights Committee (Committee), which monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), determined that Irish laws that forced a woman whose foetus had congenital heart defects (and a low chance of survival) to procure an abortion overseas contravened the ICCPR.  The Committee determined that Articles 7 (privacy), 17 (cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment) and 26 (equality before the law) of the ICCPR were violated and the Irish government should pay compensation to the claimant and provide her with needed psychological treatment.  The Committee also recommended that Ireland amend its laws on voluntary termination, and if necessary its constitution, to ensure compliance with the ICCPR and prevent similar violations occurring.

PJS v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2016] UKSC 26A married celebrity had a threesome. His partner wasn’t one of the three. The affair was published widely on the internet outside the UK. A UK newspaper wanted to publish the story too. Demonstrating that it takes the right to privacy seriously in the age of the internet, the Supreme Court in May 2016 upheld an injunction preventing the publication of the story in the UK.The decision confirms that the right to privacy protects not just secrecy, but intrusion into private life. Therefore the fact that the information was already publicly accessible was not fatal – the injunction would prevent additional intrusion and harm to the applicant and his family caused by print publication.

Case of J.N. v The United Kingdom (Application no. 37289/12) [2016] ECHR 434 (19 May 2016)The United Kingdom remains the only EU Member State which does not impose a statutory time limit on immigration detention prior to deportation.  A challenge to that position was recently heard before the European Court of Human Rights.  While the Court acknowledged that such time limits may be preferable, it concluded that the absence of a fixed time limit does not, in itself, render the UK’s immigration detention system incompatible with Article 5(1)(f) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Convention).

Plaintiff S99/2016 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2016] FCA 483The Commonwealth Government has a duty of care to facilitate a safe and lawful abortion for a refugee who was sexually assaulted while on Nauru awaiting resettlement. The court’s  orders included an injunction to restrain the Minister from procuring an abortion for the applicant in Papua New Guinea (‘PNG’), but did not require the Minister to bring  the applicant to Australia.

Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service v Q [2016] QSC 89On 20 April 2016, the Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service (“CQHHS”) applied to the Supreme Court of Queensland seeking orders authorising the termination of 12-year-old “Q’s” pregnancy.  Exercising the Court’s parens patriae jurisdiction, McMeekin J held that that the termination of Q’s pregnancy was necessary to avoid danger to Q’s mental and physical health, and was therefore lawful.  

Zaburoni v The Queen [2016] HCA 12 (6 April 2016)The High Court has unanimously allowed an appeal against a decision of the Queensland Court of Appeal, in relation to the criminal offence of intentionally transmitting HIV to another person.The decision provides further guidance as to when evidence of a person’s awareness of risk, and foresight of the consequences of his actions, will suffice to prove criminal intent.   

Da Silva v United Kingdom (no. 5878/08) (30 March 2016)After a young Brazilian man was mistakenly shot and killed by UK police in 2005, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (Court) has found that the manner in which the investigation into the shooting was conducted did not constitute a breach of the procedural duty contained in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Convention).  In particular, the Court concluded that the decision not to prosecute any individual officer was not due to any failing in the investigation or any unlawful acts.  Rather, it was due to the fact that the prosecutor had considered all of the facts and concluded that there was insufficient evidence against any individual officer to prosecute.

Goode v Common Equity Housing Limited (Human Rights) [2016] VCAT 93The Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) (the Charter) requires public authorities to give proper consideration to, and act compatibly with, the human rights set out in the Charter. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) recently held that a registered housing association was subject to the Charter when providing social housing.