Decriminalizing Disease: A Health Justice Approach to Infectious Diseases and Criminal Law
This Article seeks to re-frame the discussion around the legal framework for infectious diseases in a way that moves beyond a punishment mindset and toward a health justice mindset. The focus in this Article is on health justice rather than traditional understandings of public health, defined as the science and practice of improving the health of people and their communities.
It argues that health justice, when applied to infectious diseases, requires decriminalisation. Health justice aligns with the abolitionist project to dismantle carceral practices and implement non-carceral approaches
Criminalisation of HIV transmission: implications for public health in Scotland
Article analysing of the first case of HIV transmission in the UK. The authors conclude that far from protecting the public, the judgment has endorsed abrogation of individual responsibility in sexual partnerships by asserting a legal duty of disclosure on the infected partner. It is likely to undermine uptake of HIV testing and risks a one third increase in new HIV infections in Scotland. It also underlines the need for research scientists to anticipate that potentially incriminating results, even in unlabelled studies, may be followed up by forensic requests from individual study participants or by police warrant and recommends an urgent review by the Scottish Executive to minimise the negative effects on public health and molecular science.
Colombian Constitutional Court on: HIV Criminalization, Sex Work, Abortion, Same Sex Marriage and Drugs
This document presents some of the most relevant and recent decisions in which the Court has discussed the limits to individual liberty, autonomy and privacy among issues concerning matters like: (i) HIV criminalization and other protections; (ii) sex work; (iii) abortion or voluntary interruption of pregnancy; (iv) rights of same sex couples to marriage; and, (v) personal drug possession and consumption.
Making the case against an HIV-specific law in Jamaica
This assessment ‘Legal Assessment of the Effectiveness of HIV Criminalisation Laws-from High to Low-Income Countries’ demonstrates why the enactment of an HIV-specific criminal law in Jamaica would be harmful to the national HIV response. It sets out the bases on which the recommendation for an HIV-specific criminal law should be rejected and highlights the need for public health policy considerations to centre the discussions surrounding HIV criminalisation in Jamaica.
Expert meeting on the scientific, medical, legal and human rights aspects of criminalisation of HIV non-disclosure, exposure and transmission
This report contains the views, opinions and suggestions for policy orientation and formulation of the participants at an expert meeting (convened on 31 August–2 September 2011 in Geneva, Switzerland) that brought together scientists, medical practitioners and legal experts in order (i) to consider the latest scientific and medical facts about HIV that should be taken into account in the context of criminalisation, and (ii) to explore how to best address issues of harm, risk, intent and proof—including alternative responses to criminalisation—in light of this science and medicine.
The Intersection of Sex Work and HIV Criminalization: An Advocate’s Toolkit
This 2017 toolkit from The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP) and the National LGBTQ Task Force highlights intersections between the criminalisation of sex work and HIV, noting both disproportionately affect people from marginalised communities. Urges the building of stronger linkages across HIV criminalisation and sex work movements, and provides tips to make advocacy more inclusive, effective, collaborative and transformative.
Keeping Confidence: HIV and the criminal law from service provider perspectives
Based on discussions with 75 service providers, this study found that criminalisation has influenced, and sometimes disrupted provision of HIV services, creating ambivalence and concern among many providers about their new role as providers of legal information. Service providers’ approach were influenced by their personal views on shared responsibility for health, concerns about professional liability and their degree of trust in non-coercive approaches to managing public health.