HIV/AIDS and legal developments in Germany

Case law has helped to define the legal environment for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in Germany. This article describes court decisions in three areas that may be of interest to Canadian readers: criminal law, confidentiality, and the use of illegal drugs to control pain. It also describes the situation of refugees with HIV/AIDS.     

Putting third first: critical legal issues and HIV/AIDS

On 7 July 2000, before the XIII International AIDS Conference, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the AIDS Law Project, South Africa held a one-day satellite meeting on legal, ethical, and human rights issues in Durban, South Africa. Entitled Putting Third First--Critical Legal Issues and HIV/AIDS, the satellite focused on legal strategies to advance the human rights of those most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and to discrimination: people in the developing world, and people who, although they live in the industrialized world, suffer from poverty and marginalization and are at high risk of contracting HIV. The satellite grew out of the ongoing partnership between the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the AIDS Law Project, South Africa, and was co-hosted by UNAIDS.     

HIV/AIDS legal issues in the United States

The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to be a leading public health issue in the United States. During the past decade, the epidemic has shifted away from the gay community, although gay and bisexual men continue to be the largest single HIV exposure category. Now, HIV increasingly affects low-income people of colour in urban areas, as well as women. As AIDS becomes more and more a minority, inner-city disease, public focus on the epidemic as a significant social and political issue is waning. While a full survey of current issues in US law is beyond the scope of this article, the focus here is on current issues that are highly relevant to the direction the epidemic appears to be taking.     

输血后艾滋病的司法鉴定

本文综述了近年来输血后艾滋病病毒感染、艾滋病发病情况及其影响因素,强调了按照国家法律,法规,严格控制血液制品进口,采血部门严格筛查,供血单位规范生产,用血医院严把指征,以及受血病人知情理解是避免输血后艾滋病病毒感染和艾滋病法律纠纷的关键。阐述了输血后艾滋病病毒感染及艾滋病发病的司法鉴定工作要点。     

Measuring legal implementation of the international guidelines on HIV/AIDS and human rights

With over 36 million people now living with the virus and over 21 million people dying of AIDS in the last two decades, HIV/AIDS is a global health and security problem. These shocking figures eclipse the human toll of many wars, and reveal in themselves that human rights are not being respected, protected, or fulfilled, either through negligent omissions or violations. A human rights approach to the epidemic was advocated early by advocates such as Jonathan Mann, who recognized that infections thrived in conditions of inequality. This approach was crystallized in the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights that were developed at the Second International Consultation in 1996 convened by UNAIDS and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Guidelines cover three main areas: improving governmental responses in terms of multisectoral responsibility and accountability; widespread law reform and legal support services; and supporting increased private sector and community participation in effective responses to the epidemic. This article focuses on the half of the twelve Guidelines that concern rights that are justiciable and amenable to law reform. It highlights the responsibilities of States Parties to human rights treaties, as they bear the principal burden of the obligations to implement.     

HIV vaccines in Canada: legal and ethical issues--an overview

In July 2002 the Legal Network released an overview paper on legal and ethical issues related to an HIV vaccine in Canada. The paper, which is based on a more detailed report prepared in collaboration with the Centre for Bioethics of the Clinical Research Institute of Montréal, calls for the establishment of a Canadian HIV Vaccine Plan.     

Criminal law and HIV/AIDS: strategic considerations

Richard Elliott's paper on criminal law and HIV/AIDS, an edited and updated version of his presentation at "Putting Third First," sets out five guiding principles for criminal law policy and HIV/AIDS; briefly outlines the rationales for criminalization; discusses three strategic legal questions regarding the criminalization of HIV transmission/exposure; and offers a number of recommendations for consideration of those needing to articulate a well-considered perspective on the ethical, legal, human rights, and public health dimensions of the criminalization of HIV transmission/exposure.     

Criminal law and HIV/AIDS: update IV

This regular column reviews new developments in the area of criminal prosecutions for HIV transmission or exposure, or developments that have come to our attention since the last issue. Canadian developments are the focus. Cases and legislation from other jurisdictions are only included if they represent a significant development in this area of the law or for the jurisdiction in question.