Compulsory Detention to Prevent the Spreading of Infectious Diseases
Abstract
Human Rights Law Review 5:2 Ã The Author [2005]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org doi:10.1093/hrlr/ngi022 ............................................................................... Alastair Mowbray* A Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (âCourtâ) had the opportunity to interpret the extent of the power of States, under Article 5(1)1 of the European Convention on Human Rights (âConventionâ), to detain a person infected with the HIV virus in Enhorn v Sweden.2 The applicant, born in 1947, was a homosexual. In 1994 he was diagnosed as being infected with the HIV virus. It was also discovered that he had, unknowingly, infected a 19-year-old, with whom he had first had sex in 1990. In September 1994 the relevant county medical officer issued a number of instructions to the applicant, under the Infectious Diseases Act 1988, designed to minimise the risks of the applicant transmitting the virus to other persons (they included: not to have sexual intercourse without first telling his partner about his HIV infection; using a condom; abstaining from consuming alcohol in amounts that would impair his judgment; informing medical staff about his condition if he had to have an operation, etc.; and, to attend medical appointments scheduled