Newsroom

The HIV Legal Network and a client of Battista Migration Law Group are challenging the constitutionality of Canada’s “excessive demand” regime in federal court. On February 2, 2024, we filed legal arguments and materials challenging the decision of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to deny a work permit based on an applicant’s HIV status. … Read more

TODAY MARKS INTERNATIONAL HIV IS NOT A CRIME AWARENESS DAY. PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV IN CANADA DESERVE BETTER. The Government of Canada has long promised law reform in this country. Why are we still waiting? For immediate release The following can be attributed to the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization Wednesday, February 28, 2024 … Read more

People who use drugs will suffer the consequences of backward-thinking and restrictive policies January 26, 2024 | Two leading national human rights organizations have addressed the Saskatchewan provincial government to express profound concern over changes that restrict access to vital harm reduction supplies and safety information. The HIV Legal Network and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition sent the … Read more

Amidst worsening drug poisoning crisis, Canada must show leadership to stop the deaths For immediate release, Thursday, December 14, 2023 – As funding for 21 currently operating safer supply programs across Canada is set to end in March 2024, 131 Canadian experts in substance use – including researchers, front-line physicians and nurse practitioners working directly … Read more

The following statement is issued by the HIV Legal Network and should be attributed to Maurice Tomlinson, Jamaican-Canadian activist, lawyer, and nurse. December 8, 2023 – Kingston, Canada – Today, I filed my notice to appeal the October 27th decision of the Supreme Court of Jamaica, a decision that threatened to end my quest for … Read more

Law reform has long been promised; the time for change is now Thursday, November 30, 2023 – Toronto – Tomorrow, World AIDS Day, marks nearly a year that people living with HIV in Canada have been waiting for the Government of Canada to take decisive action following national, government-led consultations on reforming the criminalization of … Read more

On International Testing Week, more than 40 organizations from across Canada sign statement of support This statement can be attributed to the HIV Legal Network, HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario and the Canadian AIDS Society. Toronto, ON (November 23, 2023) – Today, more than 40 health and human rights organizations across the country have … Read more

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 BY CASWLR Monday, September 18, 2023 — Today, the Ontario Superior Court released its decision in CASWLR v Attorney General (Canada), a case that sought to strike down harmful provisions of the Protection of Communities and Exploited People Act (PCEPA) on the grounds that they violate sex workers’ Charter rights. Sex workers across Canada are devastated to learn that … Read more

Updated on November 2 at 10:55 am. The HIV Legal Network condemns the October 25, 2023 arrests of the founders of the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF). In the context of a nation-wide toxic drug crisis fueled by an unregulated drug market and bad drug policy, DULF has operated a compassion club and overdose prevention … Read more

The Jamaican Supreme Court determined last Friday that the so-called “saving laws clause” in the Jamaican constitution prevents it from inquiring into the constitutionality of the three sections of the Offences Against the Person Act that criminalize same-sex intimacy. This misguided decision denies Jamaicans the means to protect their constitutional and human rights, and further … Read more