The components of the right to life: doctrinal approaches and interpretation in judicial decisions

The article describes the main approaches to the components of the right to life of such authors as G.B. Romanovsky, O.E. Kutafin, N.V. Kalchenko, V.M. Tanaev. The following rights are considered in detail: the right to livelihood, the right to health care, the right to health protection, the right to education, the right to a favourable environment. Besides, the study reviews the positive duty of the state to ensure conditions that guarantee a decent standard of living. The author analyses several cases of the European Court of Human Rights (Pentiacova and Others v. Moldova, Osman v. United Kingdom), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Villagran-Morales and Others v. Guatemala, Yakye Axa v. Paraguay), the Supreme Court of India (Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity & Others v. State of West Bengal, Mohini Jain v. State of Karnataka, Unni Krishnan v. India), the Supreme Court of Pakistan (Shehla Zia v. the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA)) concerning the components of the right to life.