The Liberal government will launch consultations this fall on the criminal justice system’s response to HIV non-disclosure.
Justice Minister David Lametti made the pledge Wednesday on the sidelines of the International AIDS Conference to be held in Montreal this week.
The objective of these consultations, which will begin in October, will be to explore ideas for modernizing the justice system regarding the non-disclosure of HIV status before sex. New studies are giving more and more details about the risk of transmitting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, during sex.
Under current laws, a person who does not tell their sexual partner of their HIV status before intercourse can be charged with aggravated sexual assault, the most serious charge in the Criminal Code for an offense sexual.
These charges can be brought even when the risk of transmission is deemed to be low, there is no willful intent, or there was ultimately no transmission. Activists find these regulations too strict.
According to HIV Legal Network policy analyst India Annamanthadoo, the current laws are applied in a “extremely punitive” way and are “far too broad”. She said the Network is aware of more than 200 accused persons since 1989.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Mr.me Annamanthadoo said the announcement of the consultations is a first step, but more needs to be done.
“We must act firmly and quickly,” she said. We therefore hope that this consultation will not drag on and that it will lead to rapid reform of the laws. »
The Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization, of which the HIV Legal Network is a member, said in a press release that it had conducted its own national consultations and reminded the government that “we are not starting from scratch”.
After its first consultation, in 2017, the Federal Ministry of Justice recognized that action was needed regarding the “disproportionate criminalization of HIV non-disclosure”. Two years later, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice came to the conclusion that the scope of current laws should be reduced.
However, successive Liberal ministers had made no concrete commitments before Wednesday.
The coalition’s specific recommendations, based on its second consultation, will be presented on Friday as the International AIDS Conference begins.
Canada is hosting the conference even though it remains one of the toughest countries on HIV non-disclosure, says Ms.me Annamanthadoo. She also recalled that the lawsuits disproportionately affect black people, indigenous people and members of the LGBTQ community.
The government did not release the full schedule for the consultations, saying only that they will begin in October. Further details will be provided “in the coming weeks”.