National Judges Forum on HIV, Human Rights and Law

To implement the “National program to combat the epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in the Republic of Tajikistan for 2021-2025,” UNDP jointly with the Supreme Court of Tajikistan organized a national judges’ forum on HIV, human rights and Law. The forum gathered around 100 participants, including judges, prosecutors, lawyers, internal affairs officials, representatives of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Tajikistan, members of national justice institutions, representatives of the UNDP Country and Regional Office on HIV, Health and Development, representatives of UNAIDS, and other national and international partners.

The forum provided judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officials in Tajikistan with a collegial environment to discuss the latest scientific, medical, and epidemiological data, international and regional guidelines, social and structural factors that increase the vulnerability of people living with HIV and key populations, judicial and legislative responses to HIV, and relevant legal provisions at the national and international levels, and to share experiences and challenges related to protecting rights in the context of HIV and co-infections.

The first day of the meeting was devoted to criminal law and the second day to civil law. Topics include:

Day 1: the legal regulation of HIV criminalization (existing documents, their status, gaps); international experience in the decriminalization of HIV; HIV in the context of criminal procedural law (grounds and procedure for legal proceedings);

Day 2: civil law and HIV: access to justice; the right to confidentiality – mechanisms for implementation and compensation for non-pecuniary damage for disclosure of HIV status; compensation for material and moral damage related to HIV infection; HIV status in the context of civil procedural law (grounds and procedure for legal proceedings); adoption and guardianship by people living with HIV; the right to privacy.

Below you can find all meeting documents, including the concept note, agenda, list of participants, as well as presentations and other materials.