Case Law

Judgment on Equal Access to Textbooks

Summary from the judgment: Constitutional law – right to education in terms of s 29(1)(a) of the Constitution – content of right discussed – Department of Basic Education adopting clear national policy that each learner must be provided with a textbook for each subject before commencement of the academic year – Department failing to do so in respect of some learners in Limpopo – held that the Department had given content to s 29(1)(a) – right immediately realisable – held accordingly that the Department‟s failure to provide textbooks to each learner infringes their right to basic education

Supreme Court Order of Reena Banerjee and others v Government of NCT of Delhi and others

Court order of Reena Banerjee and others v Government of NCT of Delhi and others, concerning deaths and inhuman treatment in a mental health institution. The Supreme Court ordered that the Union of India and other competent state and union authorities be identified and then respond to allegations that they were failing to meet their obligations under the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. 

Case Summary CHEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria AD v Komisia

In December 2008, Ms Nikolova, who is not Roma, lodged an application with the Komisia za zashtita ot diskriminatsia (Commission for Protection against Discrimination; the KZD) arguing that the reason for installing elctricty meters at height in the Gizdova mahala district was that most of the inhabitants of the district were of Roma origin and accordingly, she was suffering direct discrimination on the basis of nationality. 
 
On 6 April 2010, the KZD found that the installation of electricity meters at height amounted to prohibited indirect indiscrimination

Equal Rights Trust Case Summary Obergefell et al. v. Hodges, Director, Ohio Department of Health, et al.

In a 5 – 4 ruling delivered on 26 June 2015, the US Supreme Court determined that the right to marriage equality was protected by the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. The decision in the case, Obergefell v Hodges, means that same-sex marriage is now legal in all 50 US states.

The Obergefell v Hodges case concerned two men whose same-sex partners had died and fourteen same-sex couples who all brought cases in their respective District Courts challenging either the denial of their right to marry or the right to have their marriage performed elsewhere recognised in their own state.

Pages