Compendium of Judgements: Background Material

Published on Monday, 03 June 2013 14:15

Launched today at the UNDP, ICJ and UNAIDS Judicial Dialogue on HIV, Human Rights and Law in Bangkok: As noted in the landmark report, The Global Commission on HIV and the Law: Risks, Rights & Health, HIV is also a crisis of law, human rights and social justice. In the context of recent scientific breakthroughs on HIV prevention and treatment, and the growing epidemic of inequality confounding health and development across the globe, addressing the legal and human rights barriers to effective HIV responses is as important as ever.

It is increasingly recognized that protecting the human rights of people living with HIV and key populations is critical to ensuring access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support for all. The judiciary, as a protector of human rights, plays an important role in shaping legal environments for effective HIV responses, and in promoting rule of law and access to justice.

Jurisprudence has at times had a positive and transformative impact on national HIV responses and on public perceptions of HIV. Across a range of countries, courts have developed enabling jurisprudence on HIV-related issues, such as non-discrimination, employment, access to education, medical insurance, treatment in prisons, segregation, confidentiality, access to medicines, same-sex relations, and the rights of sex workers and transgender people. Beyond the courts, members of the judiciary are leaders in their communities and societies.

Their stance, attitudes and behavior towards HIV-related issues, people living with HIV and key populations can influence social attitudes and challenge stigma and discrimination, inside courts and within the community at large. As agents of justice, it is critical that members of the judiciary are empowered with up-to-date knowledge and understanding of the science of HIV transmission, prevention, treatment, care and support; epidemiological developments; and the evolving roles of the law and the judiciary in HIV responses.

Enhancing the capacity of the judiciary to address HIV-related legal and human rights issues is a vital component of creating enabling legal environments that support effective national HIV responses. Building on the work of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, The Compendium of Judgments, HIV, Human Rights and the Law, is a collation of progressive jurisprudence on HIV-related matters that highlights how the law has been used to protect individual rights.

The compendium presents a user-friendly compilation of judgments from different national and regional jurisdictions. Mandeep Dhaliwal is the Director of the HIV, Health & Development Practice at the United Nations Development Programme.

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