The Criminalization of HIV Non Disclosure in Canada
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE CRIMINALIZATION OF HIV NON-DISCLOSURE IN CANADA Report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights Anthony Housefather, Chair JUNE 2019 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION The proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees are hereby made available to provide greater public access. The parliamentary privilege of the House of Commons to control the publication and broadcast of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees is nonetheless reserved. All copyrights therein are also reserved. Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. Reproduction or use outside this permission or without authorization may be treated as copyright infringement in accordance with the Copyright Act. Authorization may be obtained on written application to the Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons. Reproduction in accordance with this permission does not constitute publication under the authority of the House of Commons. The absolute privilege that applies to the proceedings of the House of Commons does not extend to these permitted reproductions. Where a reproduction includes briefs to a Standing Committee of the House of Commons, authorization for reproduction may be required from the authors in accordance with the Copyright Act. Nothing in this permission abrogates or derogates from the privileges, powers, immunities and rights of the House of Commons and its Committees. For greater certainty, this permission does not affect the prohibition against impeaching or questioning the proceedings of the House of Commons in courts or otherwise. The House of Commons retains the right and privilege to find users in contempt of Parliament if a reproduction or use is not in accordance with this permission. Also available on the House of Commons website at the following address: www.ourcommons.ca THE CRIMINALIZATION OF HIV NON-DISCLOSURE IN CANADA Report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights Anthony Housefather Chair JUNE 2019 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION NOTICE TO READER Reports from committee presented to the House of Commons Presenting a report to the House is the way a committee makes public its findings and recommendations on a particular topic. Substantive reports on a subject-matter study usually contain a synopsis of the testimony heard, the recommendations made by the committee, as well as the reasons for those recommendations. STANDING COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS CHAIR Anthony Housefather VICE-CHAIRS Hon. Lisa Raitt Tracey Ramsey MEMBERS Michael Barrett Randy Boissonnault Ali Ehsassi Colin Fraser Iqra Khalid Dave MacKenzie Ron McKinnon Arif Virani (Parliamentary Secretary — Non-Voting Member) OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED John Brassard Michael Cooper Randall Garrison Yvonne Jones Pierre Paul-Hus CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE Marc-Olivier Girard LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Lyne Casavant, Analyst Chloé Forget, Analyst iii THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS has the honour to present its TWENTY-EIGHTH REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2), the Committee has studied the criminalization of non-disclosure of HIV status and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................... 1 THE CRIMINALIZATION OF HIV NON-DISCLOSURE IN CANADA ........................................ 3 Chapter 1—Context of The Study .............................................................................................. 3 Chapter 2—The Legal Framework ........................................................................................... 4 2.1 The Application of Criminal Law to HIV Non-disclosure ................................. 5 2.1.1 Understanding the Risk of HIV Transmission ............................................. 5 2.1.2 Prosecutorial Directives ....................................................................................... 7 2.1.3 Uncertainty Regarding the Legal Obligation to Disclose HIV Status ................................................................................................................ 9 2.1.4 Peculiar and Discriminatory Treatment ........................................................ 9 Chapter 3—What Science Reveals About HIV ................................................................... 11 Chapter 4—Consequences of Criminalizing HIV Non-disclosure .............................. 15 4.1 Consensus on the Overly Broad and Punitive Approach in Canada ......... 15 4.2 Criminalization as a Barrier to Achieving Public Health Objectives ......... 19 4.2.1 Criminalization of HIV Non-disclosure as a Disincentive to HIV Prevention, Testing and Treatment ............................................................ 20 4.2.2 Other Forms of Criminalization Undermining Public Health Objectives .............................................................................................................. 21 Chapter 5—The Committee’s Proposals for reform ....................................................... 22 5.1 The Need to Limit the Use of Criminal Law to Deal with HIV Non-disclosure............................................................................................................... 22 5.1.1 Immediately Prohibiting the Use of Sexual Assault Provisions ......... 23 5.1.2 Limiting Criminalization to the Most Blameworthy Circumstances ..................................................................................................... 23 5.1.3 Applying the New Standards to Previous Convictions of HIV Non-disclosure .................................................................................................... 25 5.2 The Need for collaboration between the Different Levels of Government to Increase Access to Testing ......................................................... 26 vii APPENDIX A LIST OF WITNESSES ................................................................................................ 29 APPENDIX B LIST OF BRIEFS .......................................................................................................... 33 APPENDIX C FEDERAL DIRECTIVE REGARDING NON-DISCLOSURE OF HIV STATUS............................................................................................................................................ 35 REQUEST FOR GOVERNMENT RESPONSE ................................................................................ 37 DISSENTING OPINION OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA ............................ 39 DISSENTING OPINION OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA ..................... 41 viii LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS As a result of their deliberations committees may make recommendations which they include in their reports for the consideration of the House of Commons or the Government. Recommendations related to this study are listed below. Recommendation 1 That the Government of Canada: • create a specific offence in the Criminal Code related to the non-disclosure of an infectious disease (including HIV) when there is actual transmission, and that prosecutions related to such transmission only be dealt under that offence; • draft the contemplated legislation in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, including the HIV/AIDS community, to circumscribe the use of criminal law to deal with HIV non-disclosure and make sure HIV is treated as a public health issue like any other infectious disease. This process should also determine the appropriate mental element (mens rea) for the new offence. ............................................................................... 24 Recommendation 2 That the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada immediately establish a federal-provincial working group to develop a common prosecutorial directive to be in effect across Canada • to end criminal prosecutions of HIV non-disclosure, except in cases where there is actual transmission of the virus; • to ensure that the factors to be respected for criminal prosecutions of HIV non-disclosure reflect the most recent medical science regarding HIV and its modes of transmission and only applies when there is actual transmission having regard to the realistic possibility of transmission. At this point of time, HIV non-disclosure should never be prosecuted if (1) the infected individual has an undetectable viral load (less than 200 copies per millilitre of blood); (2) condoms are used; (3) the infected individual’s partner is on PrEP or (4) the type of sexual act (such as oral sex) is one where there is a negligible risk of transmission. ........ 25 Recommendation 3 That the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada immediately establish a mechanism to review the cases of all individuals who have been convicted for not disclosing their HIV status and who would not have been prosecuted under the new standards set out in the recommendations of the Committee. The review mechanism should also encompass the cases of individuals who have been prosecuted, but not convicted. ....................................... 26 Recommendation 4 To achieve our public health