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Abstract
Background
The aim of the abstract is to present a short overview of the legislation of the Republic
of Serbia related to HIV/AIDS and suggestions for improvement in accordance with the
international regulations and practices.
Methods
Analysis of the laws and by-laws of the Republic of Serbia in connection with human
rights of persons living with HIV in comparation to the key international treates
and other international documents pertaining to HIV/AIDS issues.
Results
Protection and advancement of the human rights are of crucial importance for prevention
of the HIV epidemic. The best efforts of the international and national communities
aiming at promotion of the human rights and prevention of discrimination, provision
of adequate health care for the persons living with HIV and dissemination of information
to the general public, have not yet succeeded in overcoming of the stereotypes and
securing adequate protection of human rights of the persons living with HIV.
Discussion
Analysis of the current legislation in Serbia indicates that there are ways, though
mostly indirect, to protect the interests of the vulnerable persons. However, most
of these provisions were originally drafted with other vulnerable groups in mind and
can apply to the group under discussion only if the courts and other relevant bodies
show willingness to interpret the existing regulations in a way that is most favorable
for this group.
It would be a much better solution to have special regulations that would directly
protect those human rights of the AIDS patients and the persons living with HIV that
are violated most frequently. These are the rights that are in general protected by
the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and international covenants signed by the
Republic of Serbia, most important among them being the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic and Social Rights
and the European Convention on Human Rights. These are the right to life, the right
to privacy, the right to personal dignity and reputation, nondiscrimination, the right
to work under equal conditions, the right to the highest attainable standard of living,
the right to health care, the right to equal reward for equal work, the right to social
insurance, the right to exercise parental rights, the right to education, the right
of movement and settlement, the right of expression, freedom of thought and conscience
and freedom of participation in social and political life. Some of these are so-called
solidarity rights and cannot be exercised by means of court decisions. They must be
guaranteed by an appropriate social policy and the best efforts of government bodies.
Therefore they cannot be defined solely as individual rights, but as obligations of
government bodies.
The general recommendation, agreed upon by the legal experts is that the best solution
available is to pass a special law (lex specialis) that will regulate most of the
issues in connection with HIV/AIDS. This recommendation is based on the finding that
there are numerous regulations that indirectly pertain to HIV/AIDS, but they are scattered
over too many different laws and by-laws and contain no specific references to HIV.
That might explain the small number of the HIV/AIDS related cases before the courts
in Serbia. A special law on HIV/AIDS could replace or amend the provisions contained
in the existing laws and clearly regulate the legal relations between different parties
as required, taking into consideration the specific requirements of the HIV/AIDS related
cases.