By Feona Morrison

WITH the aim of improving the legal framework to bolster the battle against HIV/AIDS, judges from across the country assembled at the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown on Tuesday for the Guyana National Judges’ Forum on HIV, Human Rights, and the Law.
The event also brought together healthcare professionals, human rights activists and United Nations (UN) representatives to explore the pivotal role that the law plays in addressing the epidemic and ensuring the protection and promotion of the rights of those affected.
The forum, organised by the Supreme Court of Judicature of Guyana, the Judicial Education Institute of Guyana, the Judicial Education Institute of Trinidad and Tobago and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), aimed to create a multidisciplinary dialogue that would lead to actionable strategies for improving the legal response to HIV/AIDS.

In delivering opening remarks, Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, stressed the importance of knowledge sharing between health and legal professionals to address HIV and AIDS issues in the Caribbean.  She emphasised the need for enhancing judicial capacity in HIV and AIDS cases through continuous legal education and medical education.
She alluded to a recent study which concluded that the limited understanding of the myths and misconceptions of HIV and AIDS demand a new focus on how it is not transmitted through moving beyond conventional strategies towards a social construct approach.
“So, the social construct approach and this is what we are witnessing by engaging in this forum. In fact, I will call it a medical-legal-social approach to the subject. I want like a sample to be done on many ways, on the stigma related attitudes or on unconscious bias or related issues…”
“That intersection between health and law is critical. If we had remained in our courtrooms or in our chambers, we would not have been any wiser about the information that we’ve gathered so far today, and what we will learn later on. So, knowledge therefore is important. It empowers us.
“The medical knowledge informs our legal body as well as our education at the end of the day when cases involving HIV and AIDS and discrimination and equality before the law or any constitutional challenges in that regard come before us as judicial officers,” the judge added.

As Justice Cummings-Edwards pointed out, the information will lead to the fair and efficient administration of justice and will foster confidence in the legal system. Protection of the law is a feature of both the Guyana and Caribbean constitutions, she stated.
For her part, Chief Justice Roxane George, SC said that the judiciary plays a crucial role in promoting and protecting human rights, particularly for people living with HIV.
She said judicial officers must enforce human rights conventions and demonstrate due diligence in their decisions. The principles and responses to HIV can be applied to other issues, such as stigma and discrimination, highlighting the cross-cutting nature of these issues, the Chief Justice emphasised.

The judiciary has affirmed that the recognition of human rights in the context of HIV response has been widespread in Guyana, as the nation has committed to the international goals of non-discrimination in relation to HIV known as the 10-10-10 targets. The targets are based on the understanding that the response to HIV can have both positive and negative impacts on the rights of people living with the virus and the most affected populations.
Conversely, it has been established that the infringement upon the rights of these individuals impedes progress in addressing HIV and achieving the goal of eliminating AIDS as a public health concern. Consequently, it emphasised the essential role that institutions such as the judiciary play in advancing these objectives through the interpretation of the law in a manner that upholds human rights principles and takes into account the prevailing evidence regarding the HIV epidemic.
“Leave no one behind is the central, transformative promise of the 2023 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Leave no one behind compels us to focus on discrimination and inequalities (often multiple and intersecting) that undermine the agency of people as holders of rights. Many of these intersecting barriers revolve around access to justice before the law,” the judiciary stated.
The Judicial Education Institute of Trinidad and Tobago and the Judicial Education Institute of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (JEI—OECS), partnering with the UNDP, have convened an annual Caribbean Judges’ Forum on HIV, Human Rights and the Law since 2019.

This forum has promoted discussions around topics related to the interaction between HIV, the response to HIV and the enjoyment of rights by key populations in the region, including, among people living with HIV, LGBTI+ populations, sex workers and drug users.
Building up to the regional Caribbean Judges’ Forum later this year, national consultation will be held in countries such as Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. The Guyana national consultation will convene High Court judges and magistrates from around the country to discuss the above-mentioned issues and contribute to the design of the regional agenda.

UNDP has partnered with the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) on the UNDP-led SCALE initiative, aiming at driving progress on the 10-10-10 targets for, and with, key populations in PEPFAR-funded countries by 2025.
National policies will prioritise inclusivity for individuals with HIV and key populations, by expanding successful strategies and investing in key population communities. This will involve the implementation of social protection systems. In light of this concept, SCALE actively engages in initiatives such as the Guyana national Judges Forum on HIV, Health, and Human Rights.