This paper explores some criminal law issues associated with the sexual transmissionof HIV. Not only are HIV and AIDS major public health problems in the entire world, they also bring with them a variety of legal difficulties. Faced with this grave challenge, governments are indeed compelled to do something. Although various other tools are available, one proliferating response is to enact and/or fully apply laws that criminalize the aforementioned contamination. A recent UNAIDS funded report mapped the rates of prosecution within signatory states of the European Convention of Human Rights and showed that at least one person has been prosecuted in Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and the UK. In addition to briefly providing some background concerning the relevance of the matter for Belgium, we will outline, analyze and comment on the current possibilities under Belgian criminal law for prosecution with regard to potential or actual sexual HIV transmission. At present, Belgium has no HIV-specific criminal
law. Accordingly, the question arises as to whether the general criminal law provisions can be applied to the exposure to and/or the actual transmission of HIV. Secondly, we elaborate on the lack of action after sex that carries the risk of such a transmission, e.g. the persistent non-disclosure of the HIV-positive status. Can this be classified as a punishable omission or failure to act in respect of a person in great danger? Finally, we discuss the impact of privacy and of issues relating to consent and fault of the potential complainant on the criminal liability ofthe potential defendant. Though this paper primarily focuses on Belgian law, it is beneficial to have a look at solutions which other countries have developed in answering certain questions. Thus, some legal comparisons will be made.