Amsterdam 23/02/2012. Representatives from international civil society have released the Oslo Declaration on HIV Criminalisation. The declaration is an advocacy and policy statement against the overly-broad use of the criminal law to regulate and punish people living with HIV for behaviour that in any other circumstance would be considered lawful. The declaration was created and endorsed by twenty individuals and representatives of civil society from around the world with expert knowledge in health, scientific, social, ethical, political, human rights and judicial issues relating to HIV.

The declaration, endorsed by the Global Network of People living with HIV (GNP+), outlines the importance of a linked, cohesive, evidence-informed approach to using the criminal law in matters relating to HIV non-disclosure, exposure and transmission. The statement urges Ministries of Health and Justice, public health officials and other relevant policymakers and criminal justice system actors to ensure a restrained, proportionate and appropriate use of the criminal law. It is a direct response to the situation where an increasing number of people living with HIV are being arrested, prosecuted and convicted as well as the rapid rise in the number of countries enforcing, enacting or proposing HIV-specific legislation which inappropriately fuels such prosecutions. This, despite a growing body of evidence suggesting that the criminalisation of HIV non-disclosure, potential exposure and non-intentional transmission is doing more harm than good in terms of its impact on public health and human rights.

GNP+ was one of the first organisations to systematically track and document HIV-related criminal laws and prosecutions. Currently, information from over 200 countries and judicial territories is published via the GNP+ Global Criminalisation Scan website, a global repository of data and information on national or state level laws and statistics on prosecutions for HIV non-disclosure, exposure or transmission.

The declaration was agreed in Oslo, Norway on the eve of a global High Level Policy Consultation on the Science and Law of the Criminalisation of HIV Non-disclosure, Exposure and Transmission, convened by the Government of Norway and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) on 21 – 22 February 2012.The declaration supports the objectives of the meeting; it encourages policymakers to review their own laws and policies, and to take any and all steps necessary to achieve the best possible outcomes in terms of justice and protection of public health in order to support effective national responses to HIV and uphold international human rights obligations.