Motswagae and Others v Rustenburg Local Municipality and Another [2013] ZACC 1The Constitutional Court of South Africa held that excavation work in close proximity to the applicants’ homes was tantamount to eviction, and that section 26(3) of the Constitution protects the undisturbed occupation of home unless there is a court order.

Fabris v France [2013] ECHR, Application no.16574/08The European Court of Human Rights recently handed down a decision which identified a violation of article 14 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms where an individual “born of adultery” was denied the right – due to the operation of legislation in France – to inherit an equal share of his mother's estate.

Bikramjit Singh v France, UN Doc CCPR/C/106/D/1852/2008The United Nations Human Rights Committee has found that France's restrictions on the wearing of religious symbols or clothing in state schools breached a student's right to religious freedom under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Case of Horvath and Kiss v Hungary [2013], ECHR Application no. 11146/11The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has found that Hungary’s procedures for placing children in schools for children with mental disabilities resulted in discrimination against the Roma, curtailing their enjoyment of the right to education. This is the most recent in a series of ECHR cases addressing the segregation of Roma children within European state education systems.

R (on the application of T) v Greater Manchester Chief Constable & Ors [2013] EWCA Civ 25 (29 January 2013) The UK Court of Appeal recently held that disclosure of a person’s convictions or police cautions can breach their right to privacy under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Case of Eweida and Others v The United Kingdom [2013] ECHR, Applications nos. 48420/10, 59842/10, 51671/10 and 36516/10 (15 January 2013)In four different applications, the European Court of Human Rights considered the balance the state party had purported to strike between religious freedom and the protection against discrimination. In so doing, the Court afforded a significant “margin of appreciation” to the state party.

Kinloch (Appellant) v Her Majesty’s Advocate (Respondent) (Scotland) [2012] UKSC 62 (19 December 2012) The UK Supreme Court held that an unauthorised police surveillance operation did not breach an individual’s right to respect for their private life under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This was because the surveillance occurred in public places and the subject of the surveillance had no reasonable expectation of privacy.

El-Masri v the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia [2012] ECHR 2067 (13 December 2012) The European Court of Human Rights held the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia responsible for the "extraordinary rendition" of a German citizen, which involved his transfer into the custody of United States authorities, unlawful detention and ill-treatment amounting to torture.

Dudley Lee v Minister of Correctional Services [2012] ZACC 30 (11 December 2012) The Constitutional Court of South Africa affirms that domestic law must provide an effective remedy for breach of rights contained in the South African Bill of Rights and that failure to minimise the risk of contracting a tuberculosis infection in prison breaches the right to humane conditions in detention.

Chagos Islanders v United Kingdom [2012] ECHR, Application no. 35622/04 (11 December 2012) The European Court of Human Rights rejected, on admissibility grounds, claims by former Chagos Islands inhabitants against the UK. The Court considered the extra-territorial application of the European Convention on Human Rights.

A & B v Children’s Court of Victoria & Ors [2012] VSC 589 (5 December 2012) The plaintiffs were two sisters aged nine and 11 who made an application to the Supreme Court of Victoria seeking to quash orders of the Children’s Court that they lacked maturity to provide instructions to lawyers and denying them leave to be represented by the same legal practitioner. The main issue was the meaning of the expression “maturity to give instructions” under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic).