This Q&A document provides an overview of the answers to commonly asked questions regarding the October 2012 Supreme Court of Canada decision around HIV disclosure.
Criminal law and HIV non-disclosure: What should PHAs do if they are concerned that they may be under investigation for allegedly failing to disclose their HIV-positive status?
Outlines what people with HIV should do if they are concerned they may be or they are being investigated by police.
Why Are We Putting People In Jail For Having HIV? First: HIV Criminalization A Grassroots Guide To HIV Criminalization: Facts, Foolishness And Solutions
This guide developed by The Center for HIV Law and Policy and National Center for Lesbian Rights in 2015 outlines the basics of HIV criminalization, medical facts, how criminalization exacerbates stigma, issues with HIV laws, and how people can advocate for change. Includes useful links.
Women and the Criminalization of HIV Non-Disclosure
Outlines the history of HIV prosecutions against women in Canada and why criminalization is bad for women. Includes recommendations for reform.
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.
HIV Disclosure to Sexual Partners: An Overview
Considers issues around disclosure of HIV status including human rights, ethical obligations to prevent transmission and the complexity of disclosure.
The obligation to disclose HIV-positive status under Canadian criminal law
Explains when there is a legal duty to disclose HIV-positive status to sexual partners, what can happen when a person doesn’t disclose, and what to do if a person is worried about being charged.
Do service providers have a legal obligation under the criminal law to report a client’s potentially criminal behaviour?
Explains that generally there is no obligation to report a crime to the police or provide the police with information about a client unless such a requirement is set out in a search warrant.