Atasoy and Sarkut v Turkey, UN Doc CCPR/C/104/D/1853-1854/2008 (19 June 2012) The UN Human Right Committee recently decided that Turkey’s actions in response to Atasoy and Sarkut’s refusal to be drafted for compulsory military service on grounds of conscientious objection was incompatible with article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

G v Germany [2012] ECHR 956 (7 June 2012) The European Court of Human Rights has unanimously held that Germany violated the prohibition under article 7(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights on imposing a penalty heavier than that which existed at the time of the offence, by imposing a period of retrospective preventive detention.

Mounted Police Association of Ontario v Canada, 2012 ONCA 363 (1 June 2012) In Mounted Police Association of Ontario v Canada, the Ontario Court of Appeal considered the scope of the freedom of association under section 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The question for the Court was whether a statutory employee relations regime imposed on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police violated section 2(d) of the Charter. Justice Juriansz, with whom Justices Doherty and Rosenberg agreed, held that this statutory regime did not make it impossible for members of the Police to exercise their fundamental freedom of association. Consistent with this freedom, Police members were able to form independent employee associations to collectively achieve their workplace goals.

Gamarra v Paraguay, UN Doc CCPR/C/104/D/1829/2008 (30 May 2012)The UN Human Rights Committee has found that the use of force by the Paraguay police against peaceful demonstrators was disproportionate, constituting a violation of article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Paraguay was also found to have contravened article 2, paragraph 3 of the Covenant by depriving the demonstrators with access to an effective remedy in relation to the human rights violations.

R v Wayne Michael Connors [2012] ACTSC 80 (28 May 2012) Chief Justice Higgins of the ACT Supreme Court has rejected claims made by Mr Connors that a bail condition requiring he undergo urinalysis (urine testing) to enforce abstinence from illicit drugs was beyond the powers conferred by section 25 of the Bail Act 1992 (ACT). The court confirmed that the bail conditions did not breach Mr Connors’ right to privacy under section 12 of the Human Rights Act 2004 (ACT).

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health v Ontario, 2012 ONCA 342 (24 May 2012) The Court of Appeal for Ontario allowed an appeal by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and another setting aside an order of the trial judge requiring immediate treatment of a mentally ill prisoner to be conducted at the Centre. The Court held that while to delay such treatment on the basis that there was not sufficient space at the Centre for the prisoner would undoubtedly be a deprivation of life, liberty and security of his person per article 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to do so nonetheless came within the fundamental justice exception to that article.

Scoppola v Italy (No 3) [2012] ECHR 868 (22 May 2012) In this decision, the European Court of Human Rights found that an Italian legislative regime that disenfranchised persons who had been convicted of specific offences and persons sentenced to terms of imprisonment greater than three years did not contravene article 3 of Protocol No 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to vote.

HM v Sweden, UN Doc CRPD/C/7/D/3/2011 (21 May 2012) HM v Sweden is the first decision of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committee found that a State party may violate the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities if it fails to consider an individual’s particular health circumstances in applying its national laws, resulting in discrimination on the grounds of that individual’s disability.

MM and AO (A Child), R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 668 (18 May 2012) This case adds to pre-existing UK and European authority about the circumstances in which an investigation of an allegation of torture or ill-treatment will be required. In this particular case, an intervention to stop a protest at an immigration detention centre caused such physical and psychological harm that a claim of ill-treatment was raised. The question was thus to what extent, especially in cases involving children, an independent investigation was required beyond procedures already in place.

Mattu v University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust [2012] EWCA Civ 641 (18 May 2012) The England and Wales Court of Appeal has found that a disciplinary process which resulted in the dismissal of an employee did not engage that employee’s civil rights under the European Convention of Human Rights. Thus, the employer was not bound by the obligations to provide a fair hearing under the Convention.

Burnip v Birmingham City Council & Anor (Rev 1) [2012] EWCA Civ 629 (15 May 2012) Due to severe disabilities, the applicants required extra bedrooms to accommodate their special needs. However, their housing benefits were only calculated based on what would reasonably be required for able-bodied person. The applicants successfully argued before the England and Wales Court of Appeal that this breached their right to freedom from discrimination.

Noone, Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria v Operation Smile (Australia) Inc & Ors [2012] VSCA 91 (11 May 2012) The Court of Appeal has found that operators of a complementary medicine centre specialising in treatment of cancer engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in trade or commerce in making representations about the efficacy of their treatments. In so doing, the Court overturned a Supreme Court decision. In the decision, the Court considers the relationship between freedom of expression, as protected in the Victorian Charter, and misleading and deceptive conduct.