HIV-related cases pose big problems for criminal law

THE CRIMINAL justice system is ill-equipped to deal with the complexities of HIV, and legal decisions need to be based on good science, according to writer and advocate on HIV-related issues Edwin J Bernard, who will give a public seminar in Galway today.

“Although the first laws and prosecutions began in the late 1980s, there are more laws being passed and more prosecutions today than ever before,” said Mr Bernard, who analyses the global criminalisation of people living with HIV.

To date, more than 600 individuals in more than 40 countries have been convicted of HIV exposure or transmission, according to Mr Bernard, who will talk today about how criminal law is applied in such instances.

“I’ll argue that in the vast majority of cases, laws and prosecutions are irrational, unjust and counterproductive, based on stigma not science.”

Situations where a person genuinely intended to do harm should lead to prosecution, noted Mr Bernard.

“If someone has planned to harm someone by not telling them they are HIV-positive and then has unprotected sex with the intention of harming them – and they were actually infected – then these very, very rare cases should be, and are, prosecuted,” he said.

“However, there are many people with HIV in prison, including some who have died in prison, who did not do anything that risked harming someone with HIV, and certainly did not infect anyone.”

The laws and prosecutions also have a wider impact, added Mr Bernard, whose public seminar today is being sponsored by the South African National Bioinformatics Institute.

“For people living with HIV, they can create a climate of fear and uncertainty and media reporting of such cases does nothing to reduce HIV-related stigma, arguably the greatest non-health-related challenge for those living with HIV.

“For everyone else, these laws and prosecutions are creating a distorted picture of HIV-related harm and risk and undermining the public health message that everyone shares responsibility for their sexual health,” he said.

“What UNAIDS and others are working on right now is to ensure that everyone involved in law making and in the criminal justice system understands the latest advances in the science of HIV.

“Justice can be better achieved when laws and legal decisions are based on good science, best practice guidelines for police and prosecutors are in place, and people with HIV accused of such ‘crimes’ have improved access to justice.”

The public seminar, HIV and the Criminal Law: Combating Stigma Through Science,will take place in the MRI Annex, NUI Galway today at 5.30pm and is part of the 18th International Conference on HIV Dynamics and Evolution, hosted by NUI Galway.