HIV/AIDS Policy & Law Review

The International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) recently released new ethics guidelines in response to the continuing forced sterilization of women, including those living with HIV, in parts of the developing world.

In an unprecedented statement, the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) denounced the criminalization of HIV transmission and non-disclosure in the United States of America and called for the expansion of programs to reduce HIV transmission while protecting the rights of people living with HIV (PLHIV).

In June 2011, the United Nations General Assembly issued a Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS as a means to reaffirm its support for human rights and to call for the removal of barriers to treatment. The Declaration also explicitly recognizes key affected groups such as men who have sex with men (MSM), injection drug users (IDUs), and sex workers.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy recently declared in a report that the global "war on drugs" has failed. The report calls for a new approach to reduce drug abuse by replacing the current strategy of criminalization and incarceration of people who use drugs with the adoption of drug policies based on sound scientific evidence as well as on human rights and public health principles.

A groundbreaking trial has confirmed that HIV treatment can greatly reduce the transmission of HIV, prompting discussion on next steps and possible human rights implications.

Three recent studies have provided further evidence that harm reduction initiatives are effective tools for reducing HIV incidence among people who inject drugs (IDUs).

A health study by researchers from Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences demonstrates that, while considerable progress has been made in preventing and treating HIV infection, disparities continue to exist in terms of access to and quality of care for women across Ontario. Targeted responses are needed in order to deliver universal, high-quality care throughout the province, particularly for older women, Aboriginal women and women who have emigrated from countries where HIV is endemic...

On 26 March 2011, when Parliament was dissolved for a federal election, Bill C-393 died on the Order Paper. The bill addressed flaws in Canada's Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR), which is supposed to facilitate the export of lower-cost medications, including HIV treatments, to developing countries.

Two provincial Courts of Appeal have recently released unanimous decisions that clarify the law regarding the obligation imposed upon people living with HIV to disclose their HIV status prior to sexual relations. The decision of the Manitoba Court of Appeal in R v. Mabior and of the Quebec Court of Appeal in R c. D.C. must be seen against a background of increasing criminal prosecutions in Canada of people with HIV who allegedly do not disclose their HIV status to sexual partners. Since the first HIV non-disclosure prosecution in 1989, there have been over 120 prosecutions...

The Criminal Code of Canada prohibits certain aspects of sex work: the keeping of a common bawdy-house, living off the avails of prostitution and communicating for the purposes of prostitution in a public place. These legal constraints impede sex workers' ability to practise their profession safely and without risk to their bodily integrity; they also impair their personal autonomy and can lead to their stigmatization. Bedford v. Canada is a groundbreaking case, since the applicants and intervening organizations seek to overturn aspects of Canadian law that specifically put the health and human rights of sex workers at risk...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

In December 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that a Romanian man who contracted tuberculosis (TB) while in prison had his rights violated pursuant to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits torture and degrading treatment.

On 21 October 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the office of then-mayor of MoscowYuri Luzhkov violated the rights to freedom of assembly and from discrimination of Russians who had sought to organize and participate in gay pride marches in the Russian capital of Moscow.

An award-winning horse-riding instructor and stable manager dismissed by his former employer in 2008 for being HIV-positive won his case in a Johannesburg court in February 2011. The employer was ordered to pay the man a year's salary and cover his legal costs.

On 11 November 2010, the AnqingYinjiang District Court ruled that a local education board did not unlawfully discriminate against an HIV-positive college graduate when it decided not to employ him upon discovering his HIV status.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has ruled that proposed legislation allowing marriage commissioners to refuse to solemnize same-sex marriages based on religious objections would violate the equality rights of gays and lesbians under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter). The Court expressed its opinion in a Reference involving proposed amendments to the Marriage Act.

On 8 September 2010, the Ontario Superior Court rejected a claim that Canadian Blood Services (CBS) is violating Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter) by refusing blood donations from men who have had sex with other men (MSM) since 1977. The case arose because CBS sued Kyle Freeman, a gay man, for lying about his sexuality on the screening questionnaire in order to give blood.

In December 2010, the Federal Court rejected a former prisoner's request for judicial review of a decision of the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) regarding his choice of physician while incarcerated.

On 16 September 2010, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a decision of the Social Benefits Tribunal that found discriminatory the exclusion from long-term income support of people suffering from alcohol or drug dependency.