Judging the epidemic has been prepared as a resource to help judges, magistrates, arbitrators and other judicial officers throughout the world adjudicate cases involving HIV-related issues. This handbook may also be used by judicial trainers and ministries of justice to deliver educational programmes to judges and magistrates on legal issues related to HIV and human rights. It may also be relevant to advocates, lawyers and other legal practitioners, and civil society organisations (including people living with HIV) that seek to gain specific understanding of HIV-related legal issues and the potential role of the courts in advancing human rights in the context of the epidemic. Based on international legal and human rights standards, the handbook contains examples of decided cases from different jurisdictions, good-practice advice and judicial rulings on HIV-related issues.
UNAIDS releases handbook to enhance the capacity of the judiciary to address HIV-related legal and human rights issues
News curated from other sources

Canada: Decades of advocacy ignored as Canada rejects HIV criminalisation law reform
Why is the federal government still refusing to decriminalize HIV?
June 3, 2025

Mexico: HIV criminalisation in Tamaulipas fuels fear and discrimination
Activists in Tamaulipas denounce that criminalisation of HIV is an obstacle to health and human rights
June 2, 2025

US: PA House Committee considers bill to end HIV criminalization
Pennsylvania House committee hears testimony on bill to decriminalize HIV
June 2, 2025

[Update] US: Felony charges for intentional STD transmission one step closer in Louisiana
House committee votes in favor of STD criminalization bill with changes
May 29, 2025

Mexico: Lawmaker introduces initiative to repeal HIV criminalisation from criminal code
As it is obsolete and discriminatory, PRI proposes to eliminate the crime of “risk of contagion”
May 22, 2025
News by the HIV Justice Network


HIV Is Not a Crime Awareness Day:
A Call to Action in a Time of Crisis
February 28, 2025

UK Parliamentary Reception Marks HIV Is Not A Crime Awareness Day
February 28, 2025