Did Russia Cancel the Supremacy of International Law?

By Mikhail Golichenko, Senior Policy Analyst, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network February 23, 2016 The amendments to Russia’s Federal Constitutional Law on the Constitutional Court, which came into force on December 15, 2015, simply enshrined into law a principle that was already implicit: the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation has the right to verify the … Read more

Know Your Rights, Use Your Laws

This handbook was written by a team of legal experts and reviewed by community activists working for improving the human rights situation of people with HIV and key populations most at risk of HIV. It is intended for people with HIV, people who are at higher risk of HIV, as well as their partners and … Read more

Tuberculosis, Stigma and Drug Control: A case from Russia

By Mikhail Golichenko, Senior Policy Analyst, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network February 4, 2016 In December 2015, I attended a judicial workshop on human rights and tuberculosis (TB) organized by the University of Chicago Center in Delhi. It was a great gathering of civil society activists, judges, lawyers and medical practitioners from more than ten countries including … Read more

On Point: Recommendations for Prison-Based Needle and Syringe Programs in Canada

This report is the culmination of a multi-phase, multi-year undertaking that involved broad consultation and primary research to create recommendations for implementing prison-based needle and syringe programs (PNSPs), which provide sterile injection equipment to prisoners who inject drugs and help prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), in Canadian federal prisons. The report highlights … Read more

Six Ways Canada Can Adopt Prison-Based Needle and Syringe Programs Now: Report

TORONTO, February 3, 2016 — A research study has concluded that prison-based needle and syringe programs (PNSPs), which provide sterile injection equipment to prisoners who inject drugs and help prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), are indisputably feasible in Canada and should be implemented in Canadian prisons without delay. Report: On … Read more

Canada: Drug policy and economic, social, and cultural rights — Submission to the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

“Canada is a party to the three main UN drug control conventions, which aim to control illicit drugs by reducing supply and demand, in particular through requiring States Parties to adopt varying degrees of prohibitions and sanctions on a range of designated controlled substances, while also providing some degree of (often contested) flexibility for States … Read more

Jamaican Gay Activist Challenges TV Stations In Court

February 1, 2016 — Today the Jamaican Court of Appeal will begin hearing a landmark case brought forward by Jamaican attorney and human rights activist, Maurice Tomlinson. The case is challenging national television stations that refused to air a “tolerance ad” promoting respect for the human rights of LGBTI people. The original hearing set for July 22–24, 2015, … Read more

Factum of the Interveners at the Supreme Court of Canada: R. v. Lloyd

“Globally, prisons disproportionately incarcerate people from marginalized communities, who, in turn, are disproportionately affected by conditions such as drug dependence, HIV, and hepatitis C virus. … Section 5(3)(a)(i)(D) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (the “MMS Provision”) mandates that the persons to whom it applies serve a one year prison sentence, whatever their health condition. The … Read more