22nd November 2019
Criminal Law - Lecture 12: Non-fatal offences in context: HIV/Disease transmission
- You can’t consent to harm or wounding
- There are certain public policy exceptions to this rule EG medical intervention etc
Disease Transmission:
- Criminalised only in certain circumstances
- Extensive focus on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV in particular
- Developed through the common law
- Public health implications
o Are STDs more public health issues than criminal issues?
- Historically regulation of VD transmission has been associated with sex work, and
targeted sex workers
- Particularly strict legislation during wartime when framed as a risk to national
security
- VD contagion is dealt differently from other communicable diseases due to its
historical, social and moral context
- Regulation linked to sexual morality, family and desirable sexual behaviour
- During wartime = people were worried about STDs being transmitted to members of
the army
- VD = Venereal disease
- Level of harm/GBH = cases so far focused on serious diseases (mainly HIV) now all
serious STDs can be GBH (EG Golding (2014))
Man transmitted herpes to his partner and was later charged with
GBH
o HIV considered to amount to GBH
o Untreated, all STDs can have life limiting and serious physical and
psychological ramifications
o Overwhelming majority of prosecutions under section 20/reckless
transmission
o Considered to be GBH because of the physical implications and the wider
social consequences and the stigma attached to them
o Most prosecutions for this come under section 20:
(Section 20 = inflicting GBH)
(Section 18 = causing GBH)
(Section 20 = reckless as to some harm, if they knew about the
disease with no precaution = reckless)
o R v Rowe (2017)
He found out that he had HIV and then tried to pass it on to as many
as people as possible
Didn’t use a condom and infected 10 men in total, most of these men
are now living with HIV
“I have HIV. LOL. Ooops!” and traunted the victims
Sentenced for life imprisonment with a minimum of 10 years
Although no prosecutions previously, this clearly comes under OAPA
Criminal Law - Lecture 12: Non-fatal offences in context: HIV/Disease transmission
- You can’t consent to harm or wounding
- There are certain public policy exceptions to this rule EG medical intervention etc
Disease Transmission:
- Criminalised only in certain circumstances
- Extensive focus on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV in particular
- Developed through the common law
- Public health implications
o Are STDs more public health issues than criminal issues?
- Historically regulation of VD transmission has been associated with sex work, and
targeted sex workers
- Particularly strict legislation during wartime when framed as a risk to national
security
- VD contagion is dealt differently from other communicable diseases due to its
historical, social and moral context
- Regulation linked to sexual morality, family and desirable sexual behaviour
- During wartime = people were worried about STDs being transmitted to members of
the army
- VD = Venereal disease
- Level of harm/GBH = cases so far focused on serious diseases (mainly HIV) now all
serious STDs can be GBH (EG Golding (2014))
Man transmitted herpes to his partner and was later charged with
GBH
o HIV considered to amount to GBH
o Untreated, all STDs can have life limiting and serious physical and
psychological ramifications
o Overwhelming majority of prosecutions under section 20/reckless
transmission
o Considered to be GBH because of the physical implications and the wider
social consequences and the stigma attached to them
o Most prosecutions for this come under section 20:
(Section 20 = inflicting GBH)
(Section 18 = causing GBH)
(Section 20 = reckless as to some harm, if they knew about the
disease with no precaution = reckless)
o R v Rowe (2017)
He found out that he had HIV and then tried to pass it on to as many
as people as possible
Didn’t use a condom and infected 10 men in total, most of these men
are now living with HIV
“I have HIV. LOL. Ooops!” and traunted the victims
Sentenced for life imprisonment with a minimum of 10 years
Although no prosecutions previously, this clearly comes under OAPA
