Oblique intent

Why the name? Well criminal law afficionados will recognise the phrase 'oblique intent' as referring to a problem of mens rea:can a person who intends to do x (such as setting fire to a building to scare the occupants) also be said to have an intention to kill if one of the occupants dies? This is a problem that has consumed an inordinate amount of time in the appeal courts and in the legal journals, and can be taken to represent a certain kind of approach to legal theory. My approach is intended to be more oblique to this mainstream approach, and thus to raise different kinds of questions and issues. Hence the name.

Tuesday 24 September 2013

On the criminalization of HIV transmission


This is just a brief follow up to earlier posts on the impact of criminalization of HIV transmission. This video is a fascinating review of much of the social science research that has been carried out on the negative impact of the criminal law in this area.

[I am having problems uploading the video, so for now here is a link and I hope to sort this shortly]

It is a depressing story, but the central message is very clear: criminal law measures which are aimed at reducing the harm of HIV transmission by seeking to deter risky conduct by the threat of sanctions are having the opposite effect in this area.

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