Overview
Mauritius has an HIV-specific law enacted in 2006, the HIV and AIDS Act – Act 31 of 2006, but the law is mainly protective and does not have any HIV criminalisation provisions.
Mauritius is notable because the proposal to introduce provisions criminalising HIV non-disclosure, exposure or transmission was specifically rejected when the HIV-specific law was adopted by Parliament. The Attorney General stated in 2007 that “criminalisation would have created more problems than solving them”, citing detrimental impacts on public health and a lack of preventative purpose, as well as an inevitable constitutional challenge. Therefore, the Attorney General said that the government had decided to invest its resources where they would best contribute to reducing the spread of HIV: increased funding for counselling, HIV testing and evidence-based prevention measures.
In 2018 there was a reported case of an attempt to use the country’s sodomy law for alleged HIV transmission between two men but the outcome is unknown. In 2023 the sodomy law was repealed.
Acknowledgements
Report presenting the results of a survey on HIV criminalization in African countries where French is spoken, conducted from May to September 2017.
Authors: Stéphanie Claivaz-Loranger & Cécile Kazatchkine for the Canadian HIV Legal Network and HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE
