Compulsory Detention to Prevent the Spreading of Infectious Diseases

Abstract

A Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (‘Court’) had the opportunity to interpret the extent of the power of States, under Article 5(1) 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights (‘Convention’), 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 by the county medical officer).