Proposes principles to guide thinking about law and policy on criminal law and HIV, considers alternative to criminalization, and makes recommendations about appropriate use of criminal sanctions and coercive public health measures.
Public Health and Policy
Recommendations to limit HIV criminalisation
Legal and clinical implications of HIV non-disclosure: A practical guide for HIV nurses in Canada
Provides guidance on the complexities many nurses face working with people living with HIV including how to document advice on disclosure and responding to a search warrant.
Special issue on the ramifications of the current context of criminal prosecutions for non-disclosure of HIV status on nursing practice
Summarizes a full-day meeting of health providers to address nondisclosure prosecutions and nursing practice. Issues included criminal law and serostatus disclosure, public health legislation surrounding HIV care and management, civil liabilities related to HIV-related care, and professional regulations and standards that influence nursing practice. Report includes recommendations.
Policy Position Statement on HIV Criminalization
Opposes laws that distinguish HIV from other comparable diseases or that create disproportionate penalties for disclosure, exposure or transmission of HIV disease beyond normal public health ordinances. Supports non-punitive prevention approaches to HIV centred on current scientific understanding and evidence based research.
BHIVA Position Statement on HIV, the law and the work of the clinical team
The purpose of this statement is to outline issues at the interface between HIV transmission and the law and provide guidance to healthcare professionals (HCPs) working in the field of HIV Medicine. The guidance is to support work in the UK, and it is important to note that the law in England and Wales differs from that in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Approaches are suggested to deal with these issues consistently, within legal and General Medical Council (GMC) regulatory frameworks and in the context of the public health agenda. The guidance specifically addresses sexual transmission.
- Alternative links
- Previous Statement - 2013
Guiding Principles for Eliminating Disease-Specific Criminal Laws
This 2015 document from Positive Justice Project Steering Committee outlines their guiding principles for modernising or repealing HIV-specific criminal laws.
Resolution on Ending Federal and State HIV-Specific Criminal Laws, Prosecutions, and Civil Commitments
Calls for federal action to address criminalisation including review of laws and cases.
Grievious harm: Use of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 for sexual transmission of HIV
Explores use of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 to prosecute people who have transmitted HIV infection to sexual partners in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Examines evidence in cases of sexual HIV transmission and considers the likely impact that criminalising HIV transmission has on public health, especially HIV prevention. Includes recommendations.
Best Practices Guide to Reform HIV-Specific Criminal Laws to Align with Scientifically-Supported Factors
Provides technical assistance to states wanting to re-examine HIV-specific criminal laws to ensure that existing policies “do not place unique or additional burdens on individuals living with HIV/AIDS” and that policies “reflect contemporary understanding of HIV transmission routes and associated benefits of treatment.”
Opinion followed by recommendations on the criminalisation of the sexual transmission of HIV in France
Presents an assessment of the legal, ethical, societal and health issues raised by criminal proceedings brought in France for acts of transmission or exposure to the risk of sexual transmission of HIV.
Fast Track and Human Rights – Advancing human rights in efforts to accelerate the response to HIV
Spells out for the first time (on p23) that there must be “Non-criminalization of mother-to-child transmission” when a country applies for validation for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. This marks the first time in public health history that human rights guarantees are considered a prerequisite to validating disease elimination.
Consensus Statement on HIV “Treatment as Prevention” in Criminal Law Reform
The Consensus Statement is a collaborative document that grew out of the recognition of a need for guidance on how the science of HIV treatment and prevention tools relates to the reform of HIV criminal laws.
CSTE Recommendations for Modernization of Laws to Prevent HIV Criminalization
In October 2020, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists' Executive Board unanimously approved an interim position statement presenting their recommendations for Modernisation of Laws to Prevent HIV Criminalisation. CSTE strongly opposes any criminalization of HIV exposure or transmission and recommends that all states, U.S. territories, and local jurisdictions eliminate HIV-specific statutes that criminalise HIV, eliminate prosecution of HIV under general statutes and change relevant state and local statutes to specifically prohibit the use of HIV-related, public health data for uses outside of public health purposes.
When Saliva Is a Crime: Reforming Mississippi’s HIV Criminalization Law Utilizing the Center for Disease Control and Criminalization Law Utilizing the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Policy Analytical Framework
In this study, Mississippi’s existing policy was identified using the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Policy Analytical Framework, and three possible policy options were analyzed and scored based on public health impact, feasibility, and economic and budgetary impact. Results of this analysis strongly indicate that Mississippi Code ANN. § 97-27-14 should be amended to be scientifically accurate and include a criminalization clause based on the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States goals and the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division best practices.
Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention: A Policy Framework
Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention highlights the importance of placing the person living with HIV at the centre of managing their health and wellbeing. The Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention Framework requires a concerted multisectoral effort to work towards removing punitive laws and passing more laws that support and enable policies in favour of expanding programmes proven to reduce new HIV infections while protecting the human rights of people living with HIV and those who are at higher risk of exposure to the virus.
OptTest case study 5: Changing drugs laws in Portugal to prioritise public health
Presents the challenges followed by Portugal to address the increase in drug consumption throughout the 1980s and 90s. Explains the decriminalization and harm reduction strategy, along with lessons learnt.
The Criminalization of HIV Non-Disclosure in Canada – Report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights
Ground-breaking report recommending that the Government of Canada works with each of the Canadian provinces and territories to end the use of sexual assault law to prosecute allegations of HIV non-disclosure.
It’s time to end HIV criminalization
While some individual public health officials have sup- ported efforts to reform HIV criminalization, the contribution of the organized public health profession, as a whole, has been marginal. Public health authorities have been indifferent to such efforts, have been afraid to voice their support, or have actively stood in the way of needed changes.This editorial argues that it is not too late for the public health community to make a difference. There is much work and ongoing advocacy needed for the tide to fully turn on HIV criminalization in this country. A strong public health voice urging the federal government to deliver on its promise to enact principled, evidence-based Criminal Code reforms that end unjust HIV criminalization would make an important contribution.
2023-2024 Report of HIV Criminalization (HR 130) Task Force
The Louisiana legislature created the HIV Criminalization Task Force (Task Force) during the Regular Session of 2023 through the unanimous passage of House Resolution 130, which was enrolled in June 2023. Pursuant to HR 130, the purpose of the Task Force was to study the public health outcomes related to the criminalization of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and provide recommendations to modernize R.S. 14.43.5 to reflect both the realities regarding the routes and risks of transmission of HIV and to better serve the public interest in the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative in Louisiana in a final report of its findings prior to the convening of the 2024 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana. The report makes legislative recommendations for consideration by the Louisiana State legislature .