Today, the Supreme Court of Canada released its new approach to the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure. The R. v. M. decision is on the Court’s website: https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/10008/index.do.
The decision is extremely disappointing and will have serious implications not only for people living with HIV in Canada, but also for public health, police practices and the Canadian criminal justice system.
HALCO was part of the coalition that intervened at the Supreme Court. The coalition released this statement regarding the Supreme Court’s approach to HIV non-disclosure:
- Statement (English) www.halco.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Crim-SCC-2012Oct5-CoalitionStatement-Eng.pdf
- Statement (French) www.halco.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Crim-SCC-2012Oct5-CoalitionStatement-Fre.pdf
We are committed to working with our coalition partners to help people living with HIV understand the law. We are also committed to continuing our law reform initiatives to improve the legal landscape for people living with HIV.
For more information about the decisions and the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure, please visit the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network’s website: www.aidslaw.ca/site/publicationtopics/criminal-law/.
If you are living with HIV in Ontario, please contact us for free legal information and advice: 416-340-7790 or toll-free 1-888-705-8889.