Recent Articles

New Zealand: Court of Appeal rules HIV non-disclosure is sexual assault

Edwin J Bernard
March 13, 2012 08:29

Update(s): 12/13th March 2012The New Zealand Court of Appeal has ruled that otherwise consensual unprotected sex without disclosure of known HIV-positive vitiates consent, meaning that potential HIV exposure (non-disclosure without transmission) could well be upgraded from criminal nuisance to...

Switzerland: New Law on Epidemics only criminalising intentional transmission passed in lower house

Edwin J Bernard
March 12, 2012 11:33

In a remarkable turns of events in the Swiss Federal Assembly's National Council (lower house) yesterday, the new, revised Law on Epidemics was passed with a last minute amendment by Green MP Alec von Graffenried that only criminalises the intentional spread of a communicable disease.The history of...

International civil society experts launch the Oslo Declaration on HIV Criminalisation

Edwin J Bernard
February 22, 2012 17:57

A group of 20 expert individuals and organisations from civil society around the world working to end inappropriate criminal prosecutions for HIV non-disclosure, potential exposure and non-intentional transmission from around the world came together in Oslo, Norway on 13 February 2012 to create the...

France: Untested gay man found criminally liable for two previous partners' HIV acquisition

Edwin J Bernard
February 21, 2012 19:34

A 39 year-old gay man who was so in denial of the possibility that he might have been HIV-positive that he refused to take an HIV test until 2007 has been found criminal liable for infecting two former partners in 2003 and 2005.He was sentenced last Thursday by the criminal court of Draguignan to...

Singapore: Two men with HIV jailed for non-disclosure to same man at different times

Edwin J Bernard
February 06, 2012 17:19

A 27 year-old former civil engineer and a 48 year-old married man who had casual sex at different times with a 37 year-old man (who subsequently tested HIV-positive) have each been sentenced to 18 months in prison because they did not disclose they were HIV-positive. This is the first time...

Czech Republic: 18 year-old pregnant woman gets 2 1/2 years for HIV non-disclosure

Edwin J Bernard
February 02, 2012 14:51

An 18 year-old pregnant woman from Eastern Bohemia in the Czech Republic, coinfected with both HIV and Hepatitis C, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison last week for not disclosing that she was HIV-positive before having unprotected sex with her 19 year-old boyfriend. The judge, Miroslav...

Canada: Urgent sign on statement - ask Supreme Court to stop inappropriate criminalisation of people with HIV

Edwin J Bernard
January 25, 2012 10:07

On February 8, 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear two landmark cases on the issue of criminalisation of HIV non-disclosure in R v. Mabior and R v. DC. The Court’s decisions in these two appeal cases will have profound implications not only for people living with HIV, but also for...

Austria: Man accused of criminal HIV transmission fights "unconstitutional" forced blood test

Edwin J Bernard
January 18, 2012 11:46

A man in Austria is taking a case to the Constitutional Court that challenges the forcible testing of blood for HIV (as well as for use in phylogenetic analysis) that was legalised on 1 January 2012 through an amendment of the Criminal Procedure Code by the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2011. ...

Important new research project on HIV criminalisation and law reform in Nordic countries by Prof. Matthew Weait

Edwin J Bernard
December 12, 2011 11:52

Following on from yesterday's post on advocacy efforts underway in Sweden, other Nordic countries and Switzerland,  my friend and colleague, Matthew Weait, Professor of Law and Policyat Birkbeck College, University of London is about to undertake an important new research study in Denmark,...

Sweden: Campaign to change draconian, punitive policies for PLHIV aiming for Government review

Edwin J Bernard
December 11, 2011 17:03

In Sweden, the Communicable Diseases Act requires people with diagnosed HIV to disclose in any situation where someone might be placed at risk and to also practise safer sex (which, in Sweden, means using condoms - the impact of treatment on viral load and infectiousness is not yet considered...